Be Merry, Sunny
by RavenWingDark
Summary: A mysterious Cyndaquil happens upon the Straw Hat Pirates and is taken on the adventure of his lifetime, full of joy and dangers alike. A family & friendship story with h/c and plenty of adventure. Tone can be dark.
1. A little Cyndaquil

**This was born out of an obsession that I could not put out of my mind until I wrote. In fact, I already have 15k written for this story. I couldn't not write it, but for a while I was too nervous to publish, but it's about to be my 8th anniversary on fanfic and well, I couldn't imagine that milestone without my latest project.**

 **EDIT 2020: Welcome! PSA: Every 20 chapters of this story features a recap to keep relevant plot information fresh.**

 **So without further ado, please enjoy.**

* * *

The small, blue and cream shrew took tentative steps across the gangplank, stopping halfway to sniff the air. Safe. He scurried across the rest of the distance, keenly aware of the lapping water below him, onto the pirate ship. The deck was empty, so the large, rodent-like creature followed the scent of fruit into the storage area, gnawing hunger fueling him. Island life had never been easy for the poor creature, especially after he'd been on his own.

Usually, the small fire type wouldn't approach a human construct like this without the shade of night, but he was particularly desperate, and he'd seen a few pirates leave the ship earlier.

Quickly, Cyndaquil was able to nose the ajar door open, and hone in on the sweet fragrance of apples and maybe oranges, biscuits and salted meats. He wasted no time in diving in the first burlap sack he saw, and pushed his front paws against it until the sack fell over, scattering a few apples on the ground. He picked them up one by one and started munching on them, then started on the ones on the bag. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a piece fresh fruit without having to run for his life to avoid an angry shopkeeper. Most of his meals were scraps from the trash, that was the only thing he could do to limit the injuries he took from townspeople.

Cyndaquil kept polishing off the apples, one after another, until his head, then shoulders were in the bag, and then until he was swallowed up by the bag, not remembering a time where he had eaten so much, even when he still had his mother. He blinked slowly a few times, let out a sigh, and his eyes fully closed for sleep.

Suddenly, Cyndaquil was aware of movement, tiny trembles across the new floorboards, sending his shrew instincts on tense alert. He'd fallen asleep. And during that time, humans had boarded. He had no way of knowing how many, either, there were so many vibrations and slight movements, it almost made him sick when he tried to parse them out.

His only choice was to wait until he could take a carefully calculated risk in escaping. Hope surprise was on his side, and that they weren't hunters, or that there weren't dogs on their side. His heart beat frantically in his chest.

Several minutes went by, with impacts hitting somewhere outside, and the boat rocking, and Cyndaquil rolled up into a ball and waited it out.

Eventually, the impacts stopped and the fire type was pulled out of his instinct to stay hidden and quiet as he felt the unmistakable taps of human footsteps approaching. The Cyndaquil tensed and peeked out a hole in the burlap at a woman with orange hair, carrying a box of freshly picked limes.

For the eighth time, Cyndaquil lamented that no matter how hungry he had been, he'd been truly foolish to try something so risky.

The woman set down the citrus and headed back to the door. Cyndaquil let out a nearly inaudible sigh. But when she was at the door, she abruptly turned around as if double-taking, then walked over, examining the large hole in the now-more-empty bag.

"Huh?" She stopped in front of the shrew pokemon unknowingly. "What hap-Ahhhh!" The redhead jumped back in surprise as Cyndaquil jumped out of the bag, charging blindly across the room in a panic.

* * *

"A rat!" I heard behind me. _That's a familiar call,_ I thought, _and it never ends well!_

I skirted past her easily with my dash and made my way back to the deck.

"Catch that blue thing!" The girl screeched behind me. On deck I realized there were three more startled humans, as I hurtled up, looking for somewhere to go. _Back the way I came,_ I thought.

"I got it!" said one, running towards me, I sharply turned before his reaching hands could reach me, making to escape, but when I jumped onto the railing, I stopped dead when I realized that we were in the middle of the ocean, a mass of land already a distance away. The tan human took advantage of my distraction and tried to grab me, I squealed loudly and slipped out of his hands, charging the opposite direction at full speed as he tripped and fell behind me. I could find a new place to hide, maybe they would give up and—yet another pair of hands caught me, but this time, the calloused hands held fast around my stomach, as I struggled ineffectually. The one holding me was a strong green-haired man with curious yet terrifying eyes. I stopped struggling—it was hurting me more than him at this point— and shivered nervously in his grip. They caught me, now they were gonna cook me up or throw me overboard! No matter how hungry I was, I should have known not to try to steal from a ship!

The orange haired girl had come out on the deck and now the others were coming around too. They were all so giant.

"What is this thing?" The green-haired man said.

Orange came up to me with a hand thoughtfully under her chin. "It was in the storage room so I thought it was a rat, but it doesn't look like anything I've seen before."

"It's way bigger, and a weird color, but it kind of looks like a mouse or shrew. Maybe it's mutated?" the tan man wondered.

"Hey Zoro, can we eat it?" The black-haired boy asked, looking bored now that the chase was done. My shaking got a little worse. I was too young to die, I was only six months old and I still had someone to find! _That's it,_ I thought, steeling myself. _My last hope!_

 _"_ _QUIIIIILLLLL!"_ I wailed, igniting and combusting the flames on my back with all the energy I had. They were strong enough that the green haired man, Zoro, grunted and dropped me. I corrected my fall on the way down, gleeful of a chance to hide—when the black haired boy's arms seemed to stretch just a _little_ too far, and before I knew it, I was being held by him and closely inspected.

"Whoa! Did you just use fire? I know someone with a devil fruit power like that? Did you eat the Flare-Flare fruit too?" He asked. I ignited my back again but he was holding me around the arms and shoulders and I wasn't able to hit him.

"I-it did it again, it shot fire…out of it's back…" Nami said in a daze.

Zoro frowned, patting his hands against his obi. "Cute trick."

"Luffy, there's only one of each type of devil fruit, so that's not a possibility, so it's either another, similar one, or it's a weird animal we don't know about." The tan boy pointed out.

 _I'm not an animal!_ I groused, trying to pry myself out of the boy's grip, though he didn't seem to notice, just grinned toward the redhead who had come over to get a closer look as well.

"Actually it's kind of cute, in a strange way…" Orange trailed off. On the ground, the top of my head would probably reach Green's knee, if I stretched to my full height; I am blue-green and cream with three red spots on my back for my fire and large, perpetually squinted eyes and a narrow, soft muzzle.

I have not been called "cute" before. I protest weakly.

Tan boy spoke up again, "It looks scared, I think it may have stowed away, not realizing we were going to sail away."

So he wasn't as dumb as he looked. I nodded eagerly before going back to being terrified.

"Huh? You can understand us?" Orange asked.

"Cyn!" _Yes! Don't eat me!_

"How cool!" Black said, his eyes lighting up. "And you can shoot fire so you must be a baby dragon!"  
The girl, Nami, raised an eyebrow skeptically at Black, then looked at me. "You didn't mean to jump abroad, huh? I bet you were just looking for food and got stuck, right?"

I nodded again.

"Do you live on that island back there?" Black said. I nodded again. I flinched as his eyes hardened and he crouched to set me down, free, on the floor. Not that escape was possible at the moment. No, my best bet would be to listen to them. "And we took you from your home."

Nami seemed to know where he was going with his idea, even if I didn't. "Luffy, those people were firing cannons at us. We can't go back!"

Luffy stared at me, not acknowledging the girl's words, still waiting for my answer.

I was hesitant because while I did live on the island, it wasn't really home to me, I didn't know anyone well on that island anymore. He seemed to understand my resistance because after a moment he gave me a nod and reached out a hand to my head. I flinched again, but the hand didn't touch me immediately, just stopped above me. When I looked up and gave it a slight sniff, the calloused hand gave my head a surprisingly gentle pat. "Alright then, it's settled! We won't eat you and we'll bring you to another island—that's a promise! What's your name?"

"Cyndaquil?" I hadn't been called anything in a long time so I just looked up at him.

"Ah, so your name is Cyndaquil," Black confirmed.

"Uh, Luffy, I think that's all it can say, I don't know if it's its name," Longnose said.

"Well, my name's Luffy and this is Zoro, Usopp, and Nami. We're the Strawhat Pirates. Now that that's settled, let's eat!"

Ten minutes later, the humans were sitting at the table in the kitchen eating smoked fish. Long nose—Usopp—had given me some dehydrated fruit, which I was working on by the door. I certainly wasn't that hungry, but I couldn't pass up the fruit; peeling off chunks of the vile skin and sticking my snout in the fruit to eat the sweet inside.

The crew were quick to laugh, or threaten, as Nami did when Luffy put his hands too close to her food, and soon they were done. Zoro looked back at me, again making me feel uncomfortable under his glare. Then, I realized that the conversation had moved on to talking about me again. I put more effort into looking busy while I listened in.

"—actually not uncommon for sailors, or pirates, to have a pet on board to catch vermin and some are even said to bring sailors good luck," Nami was saying.

"I think they got cats to prevent mice, it's crazy to keep a rodent on board," pointed out Usopp.

"I'm estimating we're about five days from the next island, so how about you just focus on not letting it chew through anything, alright Usopp?" Nami asked sweetly, while Usopp started to sweat thinking about that problem.

"Shihihihi!"

After that, it was getting late, and Zoro stayed to clean up the dishes, Luffy watched the sun set from the bow, Nami left downstairs somewhere and Usopp climbed up to the Crow's Nest for the night shift.

I hesitated, not sure what to do. I would have retreated back into the storage room but someone had fully shut the door so I couldn't slide in. I didn't want to spend the night out in the open and it was getting kind of chilly. As I wallowed, Luffy walked by me. "Come on, blue rat thing. Time to go to sleep," he said if it were the most natural thing in the world. Having no other options, I reluctantly followed the boy down the hatch, which brought us to a decent sized room with five hammocks, that smelled vaguely of snacks and old socks. Luffy hummed thoughtfully as he looked around for something. Finally, he decided to pull out a shirt, that looked a lot like the shirt he was currently wearing, folded it once and set on the ground near his hammock. "Here, mousie," he said, picking me up before I could back away and placing me on the shirt, "stay, go to sleep."

I stared at him incredulously for a minute as he changed into a nightie, yawned loudly and climbed into his hammock and instantly started snoring. Still, I sensed none of the predator drive I sensed in the swordsman, so I laid down and gradually let my defenses lower enough for sleep. Still, I stayed alert and woke up many times; when Zoro came in sweaty holding three long sticks, and when Usopp came in much later in the night.

* * *

The next day, after Nami brought an apple and water out to the deck for me, my initial trepidation was beginning to wear off. I think I could trust Luffy and his friends to drop me off safely at the next island. Around midday, Luffy was groaning about being bored and started playing with anything he saw—the small machine Usopp was messing with, a calcified piece of bread, finally a big bouncy ball, which rolled down the deck past me. My senses were on alert as I felt the vibrations across the floor. It hit the stairs and started bouncing down and I couldn't help myself anymore—I spun around charged after it. My acute spacial senses had already accurately located it, so once I was on the move, it was easy to hone in on. I leaped off the bottom few steps and trapped the bouncy ball under my paws just as it was approaching the side of the ship.

Luffy whooped and clapped, "Nice catch, fire-guy!" He quickly made a game of throwing the ball and catching it, but I found it hard to not get enthusiastic about the game. Luffy seemed to intrinsically understand how I was finding the ball (Cyndaquil aren't known for their superb vision) and kept adding new challenges, such as slapping the ground after he'd thrown it to try to throw me off. But as I kept catching up to the ball eventually, his distractions became _too effective_.

"Look, it's a giant bird!" He yelled once and in an instant, I was curled up in a ball, arching flames from my back. Luffy gave out a cheerful laugh and went off to distract himself with trying to raid the storage room.

Exhausted, I found a corner away from the water to take a nap in. That day, I occupied myself with watching Usopp tinker. Nami gave me a gentle pat on the head as she walked by the make dinner and I was given a piece of hardtack and that night, I slept on Luffy's shirt again.

The pirates, it seemed, must be the best of the humans.

* * *

 **1\. I really wanted to explore 'are pokemon more like people or animals?' dynamic that a misplaced pokemon would have, and make a seemingly simple character with many facets of personality, and I really love him. And it's currently not in the crossover page because it's a lil concerning how little I look for things there.**

 **2\. EDIT: Sorry, the POV may shift to 1st person in the first 6 chapters. After then, coast should be clear.**

 **3\. And oh my god, was it difficult to pick a pokemon for this story. I know this is already being done, but I felt I had a very different story to be told, and honestly, longer stories like this are great novel writing practice. Anyway, originally, this story was about a Shinx, but I realized the electric-type story has already been told in** The Smallest Strawhat. **So yeah, I wrote probably 9k of that before I realized that just wouldn't work. So I needed another pokemon. One as cool as Shinx, but how would that be possible? It had to have cool evolves (sorry Litten), preferably several, to space out the story, had to be distinctly animal-like to be different from the crew (sorry my OG, Riolu/Lucario). I considered, strangely enough, Fletchling, which would have been very different, but just kind of hard to do (Fletchling was BFFs with Usopp), I considered Rockruff, but I don't know how to write rock types (Rockruff was BFFs with Nami, Shinx was BFFs with Zoro), and even Litleo, because it's just a fire Shinx, but it was a little too plain and its evolution is only so-so. In the end, only cyndaquil would do.**


	2. A Name

**I really was Not expecting the reception the first chapter got, so as a thanks, this next chapter is coming out way early :) Thank you guys, hope you like little Cyndaquil.**

* * *

The next day, Nami brought a small handheld mirror out with her and showed it to me, and I saw my own reflection just like water! Then she angled it so it reflected the deck and to my surprise, a bright spot of light started to move along the deck. I curiously put my paw to it, when it suddenly shot off about a foot away. I followed, but it moved again, and again, until finally, it stopped. After digging in place for a few seconds, I realized the light was intangible, but it felt very warm, so I let out a low happy _chrrr_ and tried to lay in it. Nami made a strange, unfamiliar noise similar to a purr, which made me raise my head. To my surprise, she seemed to be holding back laughter, Zorro also was a demon with his sticks—swords—that day, training until sweat poured into his eyes, it was hard not to be intimidated, this man must be the strongest of the crew. I was just finishing relieving an itch near my ear when I saw Usopp enter the kitchen near dinnertime, I trailed behind.

"Hey, mouse. Keeping me company?" Usopp asked with a friendly smile, pulling out some of the lemons and salted meat. "I'm trying something new today, I'm hoping the sourness might cover the saltiness of the meat and tenderize it, but it's a bit of a guessing game." Usopp continued on, streaming his consciousness, not entirely aimed at me, but just content to keep talking. "…And there was one time I had an entire village to feed and only a single haunch of boar meat and a pocketful of dried corn and I…" the more I listened to his story, the more entranced I was! Although he was still pretty young, Usopp had some incredible adventures! Wrapped up into his story, he kept slipping me pieces of meat or biscuits as I listened with rapt attention. "Oh, young protegé, you should have seen the Viking longship I christened after that!"

The others were called in for dinner and though some of the others said the meat was too sour, I had to agree-though mostly gravitated to eating plants rather than meat. Just as we were about done eating, my head shot up, my fur stood on end, and a flash of fire plumed from my back. Usually, I wasn't this reactive to changes in weather, but I was still (rightfully) nervous about being constantly surrounded by water. And, well, I had a reason to not like what was coming.

"Fire-guy lit up again!" Luffy said, mouth full of food.

"What is it?" Usopp asked.

Nami frowned, hand to her hair, where a couple of strands were floating from the static in the air. "Storm!"

We all spilled outside and within moments, the pirates were pulling the rigging, righting the wheel and preparing for the storm. I was a little unsure about what to do against the wind, which threatened to push me back and forth across the deck, but I did have something I had learned from my mother. I looked up at the thick storm clouds above. I understood they didn't care where they poured down, just that they did and I focused on the energy the sun above was trying to provide. The Strawhat crew ran around adjusting the ship as the first drops of rain came and… nothing followed.

The darkened deck slowly filled with light like opening curtains, angry storm clouds escaping in either direction, a decidedly supernatural sight. The fire burned on my back as the day returned to calm, and the rain began to pour below the departing clouds. When I finally shook myself out of it, extinguishing my fire, the crew was staring at me.

"You just _moved_ that storm." Nami pointed out dumbfounded. "That looked like an hour of rain. And it just completely stopped and now it's bright and warm?" She pointed up unnecessarily at the sun, cheerfully shining above.

"Shishishi! That guy sure is useful!"

* * *

That night, Nami warned us of a cold snap, but I had only known one climate my whole life, and apparently, by now we had sailed almost two hundred miles from my island. I lay in Luffy's extra shirt, listening to the quiet breathing of Zoro and Usopp and the loud snoring of Luffy but about half an hour after we turned in, I woke up shivering harshly. It was freezing, even after I nudged my way under the shirt. I may be able to produce flames, but fire types aren't known for their long-term endurance for cold. If you want an ice climber, go for an ice-type. If you want someone to relax with in a nice, blazing hot desert, a fire-type is who you should call.

I began to look around for warmth. I didn't want to rely on them but there would be no warm place on the ship. Luffy suddenly snorted loudly and tossed in his sleep. I would get smushed with him! I leaped onto a drawer and landed on Zoro's chest. He stiffened and one eye opened as he stared critically down at me. I shivered in response and looked at him with my saddest look, tilting my head to the side, quivering slightly, and giving a quiet whine. He growled slightly, but pushed me to his feet under the blanket and muttered. "Only this once, rodent."

That was good enough for me, I squirmed between his lower legs under the blanket and gave a big yawn. As I fell asleep, I thought about my mother's deep, rumbly voice, her stark red eyes, and a smile crept across my face.

* * *

The next few days, things started to change slightly. Once, when I was lounging in the sun after a particularly intense game of chase Luffy (in which I learned his body is made of rubber and bouncy and stretchy) where we took turns tearing after each other, wreaking havoc until Zoro had lost patience and yelled at us, Nami brought me a sliced up apple. Then Luffy took that apple and started trying to teach me tricks like sit and down and spin, which I did perfectly on the first try, because he said what he wanted me to do. It wasn't rocket science, but Luffy laughed gleefully as he held out a portion of the apple pieces for me to accept.

"You're so cool, fire guy!" he chuckled, eating the rest.

The next day, Usopp put a bowl of fresh water out on the deck for me and checked to make sure it was filled up later. I took that as a sign that they had accepted my presence on the ship, and to a certain degree, I had accepted them, too. No matter how temporary the situation was.

I got in trouble with Zoro for trying to gnaw on the one of his sword's sheathes and I thought he might be really mad at me, but he seemed to have mostly forgiven me after lunch. Me and Luffy listened to another of Usopp's stories. But the biggest thing, which made me look back at all the little differences was dinner on the fourth day. I waited on the floor for the designated cook of the day to throw me some scraps but instead, Luffy scooped me up and set me on the table.

"The mouse is eating with us from here out!" Luffy declared with a grin on his face. Usopp, who was on kitchen duty passed a plate over with cut up fruit and smoked trout and for the first time, over three hundred miles from home, I ate with the crew.

"We have rations for about another week and a half if we're careful, but with this unexpected detour, I think we need to be more careful from now on with our food supplies. It'll be another four days until we can make it to an inhabited island."

"You hear that, firey guy? We'll have you on a fun island in a few days, so hang in there!" Luffy said with a grin, patting my head. I return a meek smile.

"About that, I really think even if it's temporary, we should call him something," Nami pointed out. That piqued my attention.

"No way." Zoro shook his head. "You name something, you get attached. I don't want to hear you crying in a couple days because you don't want to give him up."

"Look at him, he's eating on the table with us, Luffy's _already_ attached," she pointed out. I looked over at Luffy in surprise. He was humming himself, still shoveling food into his mouth, swinging his legs like a kid. We did have some really fun times the last couple days…especially when he'd slow down enough for me to catch him during our tag games, or wrestle on the floor trying to bite his nose as he giggled. Nami clapped her hands. "So, a name!"

Usopp looked at me, a pensive look on his features. "A name… how about Zephyr? Like the wind, because he blew away that storm? Or Azure for the color of his fur?" Usopp proposed.

"Or Flamey," Zoro added sarcastically.

"I like Blaze for his fire abilities," Nami said thoughtfully.

"Shishishishi! You all are so bad at names! He made the sky sunny so his name is Sunny! Captain's orders!" Luffy declared.

Usopp stared at him but eventually grinned. "Well, that's pretty simple…but I guess it's alright, what do you think, Sunny?"

"Quil!" I cried in agreement. I didn't care what my name was or understand if it was simple or obvious or stupid, I was happy they came up with it for me! Almost like I had a place, as temporary as it was, for the first time since we were brought to this strange world.

"SUNNY!" Nami cried suddenly, and before I could jump out of the way, I was enveloped in a hug. "With that name, you're actually a cute little animal! A navigator's dream!"

I stopped trying to escape her grip after a moment, when I realized it was comforting, in its own way. I relaxed into it with a contented sigh.

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed. And looking back at that day, sitting at the table with the crew that would be my family, who just gave me a name, I wonder if that's the first moment I joined Luffy's crew. Or at least, the moment I went from a stowaway to a friend.

Because it was the very next day that we came across the floating restaurant of the sea, the Baratie.

* * *

 **SUNNY!**

 **Oh yes, I somehow managed to name him after their future ship, but it was a weird coincidence, I promise.**

 **1\. Plot going to start to pick up, but I definitely wanted to slow down and show the moments with the strawhats and Sunny starting to bond before we got into anything else.**

 **2\. I'm gonna say that Cyndaquil are of course seeing through their VERY convincingly closed eyes, but like dogs (or more accurately, mice) their vision isn't their strongest sense. Mice and shrew are very aware to any change in the ground around them, and that alerts them to danger much earlier than any scent or sight would. I'm gonna say that that's a survival instinct of Cyndaquil because they're based on prey animals vs. Quilava, which is based on the omnivorous weasel. Also gonna say that Cyndaquil can see pretty well, but their motion discrimination (seeing moving things clearly and quickly) just kinda sucks.**

 **3\. Please review!**


	3. Lost Girl

**Thanks for reading, everybody! To answer** ViolaTheGlaceon **and** Mia **'s question, yes there are a *few* other Pokemon in this story for an event that happened four months ago that won't be disclosed as of yet. But no other pokemon will be joining the Strawhats officially, if any there might be one minor recurring character later on.**

WhiteyWolf26 **and** Ferna: **Hi! Thanks for your review, yes Sunny did get Sunny Day as an egg move from his mother, though in my Poké stories, I tend to play with type/abilities a little bit. He does know a couple other attacks, but has little to no battle experience. There will be a tone shift in the story as he gets stronger. And he will get stronger and start being a force to be reckoned with. But for right now, he's near defenseless in the op OP world.**

* * *

"Look over there! It's a boat restaurant!" Luffy shouted, hopping up and down with excitement against the railing.

Nami crossed her arms, a small smile on her face. "I hardly believed that old man when he mentioned there was one floating around the East Blue, but here it is. Do you think they'll sell us some barrels of provisions?" She said thoughtfully. Sunny jumped up carefully to the ledge to see what they were looking at—large boat with a duck shape on it and a dock with "Baratie" printed on the side.

Everyone piled out of the ship, Sunny tensing, squirming cautiously on the ship side as the pirates either jumped down the six feet or took the two ledges down to the ground.

Zoro noticed, and called back. "Come on, mouse. Unless you want to wait in the ship."

Sunny wriggled nervously for a few more moments before taking the leap, plunking onto the deck without even a stumble. He sighed in relief, grateful for even a ghost of a feeling of being on solid ground.

"Do you think they'll let Sunny in?" Nami wondered.

"Why wouldn't they? Let's eat!" Luffy cheered.

Nami sweat slightly and looked down at Sunny. "Well, I guess if we're traveling with pirates, that's far from a big worry." She shrugged and the five of them walked in and found a seat at a large round table. Usopp picked up Sunny and set him in his lap as their server came over. Sunny didn't resist, a lap sounded much better than staying under the table to avoid being trodden underfoot.

Their server, a tall teenager in a black suit with yellow hair, came over to them. "Welcome to the Baratie, can I get you started with any drinks?"

"I want meat!" Luffy cheered, banging his fists cheerfully against the table.

"And I'll take nectarine juice if you have it." Nami smiled at him. For a moment, he had no reaction at all, before his mouth opened, almost dropping his cigarette. His eyes turned into hearts and he began to wobble back and forth.

"Of course! For such a beautiful woman, I would grow them from seeds to ensure you only had the best! My name is Sanji but you can call me your greatest admirer—"  
Sanji went from melting over Nami to standing at attention in a moment, leading to even more confusion.

"Is that a rat?" He asked, head tilted in confusion, a slight frown drawing his lips down. Sunny looked back at him, unsure what to do.

"That won't be won't be a problem, will it, _Sanji-san?_ " Nami jumped in, speaking sweetly. "Sunny is very well-behaved."

Immediately Sanji's demeanor flipped again. "Ah, that shouldn't be a problem unless the other chefs don't see it. As for food, if you'd like, I'll bring out plates of all our specials if you all are very hungry."

The crew nodded and he disappeared back into the kitchen to prepare the drinks.

After a while, Sanji brought the food out and Zorro asked for a refill on his second order of sake.

Sunny popped his head over the table to sniff the incoming food as Sanji set down the first of three giant trays, almost losing balance when Luffy whipped an arm out to take a leg of roast.

"Hey—wait what?" Sanji blinked in disbelief. "Did your arm just—?"

Sunny stretched up as far as he could to roll a drumstick toward himself and picking it up between his paws. Even if he was mostly herbivorous, the scent was tantalizing. Around him, Usopp's arms worked to collect his own plate full of food.

"This ish so good! Sanji you should join my crew!"

"Chew with your mouth shut, you're in the presence of a lady!" Sanji snapped, then added, "And no way!"

Sanji was attempting to set that last platter down further away from Luffy, who was chomping through his second plate already, with Usopp and Zorro not far behind, realizing they had to snap up food quickly in order to get their fill. Sunny was just getting ready to take a big bite out of his chicken when their lunch was interrupted. The front door of the Baratie slammed open, knocking against the door a few more times as a weak echo. A gray-skinned, disheveled man stumbled in, supporting a larger, but equally exhausted, man in gold armor. The restaurant went silent as they took a few unsteady steps into the room before collapsing to their knees.

The gray man locked eyes with the blond chef—Sanji. "Please, you have to help him—my captain and the crew haven't eaten in weeks."

Sanji doesn't say anything. A gentle thump of a refilled glass of juice is set in front of Nami is suddenly incredibly audible. No one moves.

Sunny, sitting with Usopp, stiffens as he catches a whiff of the decay on the man's labored breaths, even this distance away. The smell of someone whose body was halfway through giving up.

Sanji exhales quietly, folds his hands into his pockets, and without meeting their eyes, heads into the kitchen, passing by a buff yet goofy looking chef who had been watching contemptuously.

He looked hostile and angry, and Sunny could sense his intentions miles away. Harnessing his own feelings from a few days ago, and how he'd been treated so kindly recently, he crept over to the tall man, dropping the chicken leg in front of the tall man.

* * *

The man took the chicken leg and in an instant, rended the meat from the bone, then took a bite out of the bone before dropping it. I stared in shock, unsure what to do. The man needed more, that would never tide him over, and it didn't look like anyone was going to give him more—Sanji had just left…The man's large but emaciated hand left his mouth and appeared above him, reaching out to grab me, saliva dripping down the corners of his lips like a hunting dog, his eyes bloodshot and rabid.

"Hungry!" His voice was cracked and guttural, his body controlled simply by the need to eat to survive. I shrunk back in horror, seeing what he wanted to do vividly in my mind, freezing in place. It was just too much. _I can't—I can't. No. Not this. Not this._ All I could hear in my head was my heartbeat and memories—bad memories flooded my system.

A rough hand wrapped around my scruff and I suddenly found myself lifted in the air.

"What is this in our restaurant?" Patty boomed shaking me in emphasis. I tried to make himself as small as possible, biting back my fire danger response. Because the last thing this situation needed was more heat.

The Strawhats were standing now too, watching the action go down with looks of anger, concern, or annoyance. Luffy was frowning where he stood.

Zoro placed a hand on his swords as a light warning, back his captain up. "We're gonna ask you to put the animal down."

"Huh? This is yours?" Patty asked skeptically. He'd heard of pirates keeping pets around to bolster their toughness. Animals like Newfoundlands, Mastiffs, Strong Island Gila Monsters. Cargo ships occasionally had a cat aboard to help, but clearly, this was pretty different.

Sanji walked out of the kitchen at this moment, having finished a plate of fried rice he had been working on. He sized the room up before stooping and setting the plate as well as utensils down of the ground in front of the pirate captain. He picked up the chicken bone from the ground, looking around before glancing at me in his grips.

"That mouse belongs to those pirates, Patty. Let's not make any more enemies," he said.

"Tch." Patty dropped me, and as I landed, I was already starting into a full-out run away from him and away from the man who'd tried to eat me alive, bounding out of the restaurant and around the corner in panic.

"Cynnnn," I hissed quietly, trying to recollect myself. Almost eaten. _Alive._ After a few moments, I heard Nami's voice from the restaurant.

"I'll be back in a minute, just checking on Sunny!" she called. I felt the tap-tap of her sandals approaching and stiffened but allowed her to approach. A second later, I was being picked up. When I looked up at her, I saw she was looking toward the ship with a determined look in her brown eyes.

"Shh, be quiet." She tucked him under her arm and made her way back to the Going Merry, ignoring the large ship docked next to them, filled with starving pirates. She boarded the Going Merry, set me on the deck and got to work readying the ship. I felt very relieved we were leaving the restaurant after the last few moments but jumped up in surprise a few minutes later when the ship started to slowly pull away from the dock.

"Quil!" I cried in alarm. The rest of her crew wasn't here!

"Sunny, hush! We're getting out of here! That cook is going to feed all those pirates and I can't afford to have it end here! I need to go back to my island!" Her eyes softened slightly as the ship pulled away twenty, thirty feet from the dock and she spun the wheel. "And I know Luffy promised to take you to the next island, so I'll fulfill that promise he made you as thanks for what he's done for me."

I stopped my worried pacing near the side of the ship as she pulled away further, recognizing it as a lost cause. It's not like I could swim any distance to the docks and I _was_ getting what had been promised, still, I had expected a chance to say goodbye to Luffy and Zoro and Usopp.

It was quiet for a while until Nami was confident she had set the ship on the right course and quickly and efficiently prepped the ship in what should have been a four-person job.

She sighed, sitting on the steps and pulled out two apples, offering one to me. "Here, I know you probably didn't get the chance to eat much either, so eat up now."

I sniffed, I hadn't gotten the chance to eat anything, in fact, _I'd_ almost been on the menu. I padded over, laid down, secured the apple between my paws, and started gnawing on it.

"I wish I hadn't had to leave them." She said eventually, throwing the apple core over the side of the ship once she'd finished. "But I always knew it was temporary, just until I could work up the funds to save my village."

I turned my snout towards her at that. _Save your village?_

"My village…let's say there has been a group abusing their power there for a long time. And after all this time," She clenched her fists, "I have what I need to send them away." She pondered this for a moment before speaking again. "But my island is a great place for animals, so you don't have to worry about that. There's plenty of coconut trees and small animals to play with, and you could even visit my sister and I if you want, and try our grove's tangerines. They're the best in all the Blues."

I didn't like the idea of going off on my own again but I gave her a small nod. There was still so much I didn't know and I was still so unsure of himself. I couldn't even protect himself from almost getting eaten! And Nami, she looked so sad. Whatever was happening on her island was weighing on her so much that she made a choice to leave the people she was having fun with. Looking at her now, she looked so lonely. Like all she knew how to do is say one goodbye after another.

She didn't sleep that night, so neither did I. She brought a thick blanket on deck and sat against the railing for breaks and I would nose my way in, curling up between her lap and the blanket until she giggled and protested that my snout was ticklish.

It was a good night, everything considered. She would give him a couple pats and talk about her sister, funny stories from when they were young and got in trouble with an older woman that was only referred to as 'she' as if Nami was remembering these stories rather than telling me. I didn't mind as I felt more and more sleepy throughout the night until I abruptly woke up in the morning to a slowing ship. The look in Nami's eyes wasn't wistful anymore, it was determined, angry, scared. That wasn't the face of someone who was thinking about how nice it would be to see her sister again, it was the look of something else; a martyr, a criminal, a lost girl.

Something was very wrong.

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 **1\. You might have guessed, but the Strawhat's detour to Sunny's island caused everything to be off by a day or two, so a few time-sensitive situations have become quite a bit more dire.**

 **2\. Sorry, I'm playing with the right POV for this story, so it will bouncing around a bit until I find the right one.**

 **3\. Your reviews mean everything to me!**


	4. Bound to Service

**Holy crap. Thanks for the reviews, folks! This chapter should get me to 250,000 words archived here!**

Whiteywolf26 **Thank you for all your reviews and words of encouragement!**

Squidzi Galaxi **Haha, unfortunately, I'm not THAT good at updating, but I did get paranoid that you'd all forget this story if I didn't post enough at the beginning! Also, I have 6 chapters written and crave the instant gratification of reviews :)**

Miss Keaton **Thank you for your encouragement and such a long, thoughtful review, and especially the advice, much appreciated.**

Rosetrang628 **Lol, hopefully, you'll see the groundwork for Luffy in this chap. Thanks for the review!**

* * *

There Nami stood at the wheel, aiming at a dock meant for smaller boats. The ship slowed as the mast was furled and she docked with only the tip within reach of the dock in order to protect to the larger ship. She hoisted her bags of berri onto her shoulder and tucked Sunny under her arm before jumping onto the dock.

She looked at Sunny expectantly, like she was waiting for him to run off when they got to the ground. Sunny, startled by her clear intention, glanced around nervously. She stared for a moment then laughed.

"You're scared, aren't you? Well, that's understandable. You don't know anything about this island, so I'll show you where I live and even cook something up for you." Nami smiled. Sunny smiled dimly in relief and followed her toward a small town. He couldn't shake that something was still wrong, much more so than what Nami had talked about the night before. And she'd masked the haunted look on her face so effectively in just a few seconds, that it had Sunny, who had always been perceptive and in tune with others, reeling.

When they arrived in town, Nami, who was carrying the two large sacks of berri, looked tense again. Sunny stayed at her heel, cautious from his own experiences in towns.

"There should be people walking around. I haven't seen anyone," she said quietly. Her direction changed slightly as she led Sunny toward a plaza in the center of town. As they were coming around the corner, Sunny could already feel the startling vibrations of dozens of footfalls. He looked up and gave her a quiet squeak of warning as they came into hearing distance as well.

Moments later, they appeared. Before them was what must have been the entire village, carrying broken broomsticks and rakes and shovels and torches marching toward the other side of the island.

While Sunny was unsettled by the strange human behavior, Nami was horrified.

"Nojiko!" she shouted. A blue-haired girl around Nami's age in the back of the crowd stopped suddenly as the mob pulled forward. She turned around, eyes wide with what looked like surprise and dread.

"Nami…" Yes, Sunny decided, she looked sad to see her sister.

They stared at each other for a moment as the mob pulled away. Then Nojiko slowly walked up to her.

"What are you guys doing? You don't stand a chance against them!" Nami protested, shaking now.

"Nami, we knew about the money. We knew about your deal with the pirates this whole time. I'm sorry," she said softly, carefully. Sunny looked back and forth between the girls in confusion. She had spoken like she was delivering grave news. Protest died on Nami's lips as a half-formed sound caught in her throat. Nojiko continued. "Arlong…he knew you were close. He told the Marines where it was buried and they took it. I'm sorry, they took all of it." Nojiko wrapped her arms around the unmoving, ramrod straight Nami. "But it's okay. Because we're going to take it back. We've been relying on you for too long, half-hoping you'd leave and never come back, half-hoping you would be our savior. I'm sorry. But now we're going to get rid of the Arlong Pirates."

With that, Nojiko pulled away, fondly stroked Nami's hair, then spun around and took off running. Sunny took a few steps after the girl, fully expecting Nami to give chase. He was surprised when her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, tears tracking past her eyes.

If those pirates were really so dangerous, Sunny knew those townsfolk wouldn't stand a chance. Shouldn't they try to stop them? He whined slightly and pushed his head against Nami's arm, trying to coax her into reacting. When she didn't even blink, he tried again, and a third time.

Finally, her eyes trailed over to him, her expression wild—sad and furious.

"Get away! Why are you still here? I fulfilled the contract, I don't owe anyone anything!" She shouted. Sunny shrunk back, half-curled away, but didn't step back. "Get away, you dumb animal!" Nami picked up a small rock at her side and threw it at Sunny, only a few feet away. It sailed by his face and he charged away ten feet in sheer instinct before stopping and turning around, feeling hurt and confused. "AWAY!" She screamed louder, sobbing, she picked up another rock and chucked it blindly, just missing him again.

Sunny ran this time and didn't turn back.

Sunny ran until he made it out of town and found cover in a patch of shrubs, trying to catch his breath. He wasn't a stranger with having rocks thrown at him. When he was fending for himself, he had to make trips into town constantly in order to scavenge food. He wasn't old or strong enough to catch food for himself—he didn't even know how. Children would often throw rocks or try to hit him using slingshots and chase him until he escaped into dense foliage. But it had never hurt as much as this. His heart felt heavier than his fear when he thought back to her eyes, empty, scared, crying. Was she still trying to stop them? Sunny had those thoughts as he curled into a miserable ball. Eventually, he felt himself drift off into an uneasy rest.

 _"_ _Oh, do you want a piece?" Nami asked. Sunny shuffled closer and gave the fruit a hesitant sniff. He hadn't seen this one when he'd raided the storage room three days ago. It was an orange fruit, smaller than he'd seen before, and smelled sweeter than a normal orange._

 _"_ _You're a real glutton, aren't you?" Nami sighed. "You're a tenth of Luffy's size but you so nearly rivaled him in what you could eat when you snuck onboard." Nami peeled away a long piece of peel. "But if you were that hungry, then I guess we I can forgive it this once." The peel came away and she pulled the top apart so the fruit split cleanly like flower petals. He'd never seen an orange or whatever this fruit was opened this way. It was beautiful._

 _"_ _My island is known for its mikans. This one won't be as good, but I couldn't resist buying a couple as a reminder." She took a piece off and put it in her mouth, smiling. Then took another piece and gave it to Sunny, who nibbled it thoughtfully. It really was delicious._

When he woke up again, it was night time. He pulled himself up. Even if Nami didn't want to see him again, he still needed to know what happened. He had the strongest feeling that this story wasn't supposed to end like it had. Maybe it was a feeling sent by the Legendaries, like his mother had told him about. Certainly, she believed that they would intervene and let their intentions be known through premonition or feelings. Maybe it was Hoopa, who Sunny remembered seeing on that fateful day months ago when the portal in his forest had been opened, sending hundreds of pokemon scattering through this new world.

Sunny retraced his steps back to town. Again, no one was walking around outside, but some lights were on in the houses and when he peeked through a window, he could see people who had just hours ago taken up arms getting ready for bed. But where was Nami?

Sunny never did find out where she lived with her sister or the other woman she talked about. His only clue was the pirate base everyone had been heading to. He took off in that direction.

Eventually, he got close enough to see a tall brick wall of the base. With his speed, was easy enough for him to leap up in two bounds, even if he was quite cautious of heights. He walked along the wall for a few minutes until he found a good spot. He scooted up a few feet up a sturdy plant growing at the wall of the base's side and jumped to the wall where sufficient ivy was growing. With his weight, it started pulling off the wall, so he had to move up the wall quickly. He made it to the top, huffing quietly. It was quite a sight. The base was right on the water, had a pool and a tower-like building. Even at night, there were blue, buff looking people walking around. Sunny squinted his eyes, jumping down the other side and skirting the wall toward the building. He'd have to be careful and quiet. There still wasn't any sign of Nami or her sister, but Nami had told him that she had been forced to work for them, that put an uneasy feeling in his belly.

Sunny patiently waited, lying on the edge of the lower roof until the humanoid being walked directly below. On closer inspection, they couldn't be human. They had sharp teeth and strange features and webbed hands. Sunny darted by again. He found a knotted tree around the back of the building that he didn't have to climb as much as he had to take one or two foot jumps from knot to knot until he reached the roof of the second floor.

There were plenty of windows, so Sunny peered in as many as he could, as stealthy and sure-footed as possible of the roofing. No, no, no. Either empty or only the strange aquatic people. He just had to hope this wasn't a dead-end because he wasn't sure where else she would be.

Sunny jumped from a window sill to the next, up a couple feet of a pipe, a small ledge, up to the third floor. He was very high up now, and he walked as close to the building as he could, trying not to think about getting caught or falling. He wasn't sure which would be worse.

He went from one window to the next, checking each one. Nothing.

Sunny sighed slightly. _Maybe she is back in town? But this building had felt so right._ He was still moving around the building when he heard something that immediately drew his attention. Crying. Nami. Nami was here and it was coming from _above_.

Swallowing a dreadful feeling, Sunny found his way up another floor through ledges and thick patches of climbing ivy. He checked the first window sill he saw and sure enough, he saw the orange haired girl seated at a desk cluttered with paper, trying to recollect herself.

Sunny jumped onto the window sill and let out a quiet whistle _._ Nami jumped slightly and looked around, finally seeing Sunny with shock. After a moment's hesitation, she came over to the window and opened it.

"Sunny?" Her voice belayed her disbelief.

"Quiii," Sunny squeaked. _About time I found you._

 _"_ How did you get here?" She asked, wiping away her tears in vain. They kept running down her cheeks.

Sunny jumped to the floor and nuzzled against her legs, showing her he wasn't scared of her from their last encounter.

She tensed but after a moment she had a controlled drop to the floor, wiping her eyes with one hand and petting Sunny with the other. A small smile graced her lips. "You came to see me? I can't believe it. You shouldn't be here, it's dangerous. You don't _owe_ me anything—"

 _I'm not here for that. I just couldn't leave it the way it was,_ Sunny said, wishing she could understand him.

She took a deep breath and hugged herself, calming down a bit. "You shouldn't be here. But thank you for coming. Look at me, relieved because a little mouse came to see me. I'm a wreck." She looked at her desk. "But that bastard really took everything. I left the money I took from…I took from Luffy at Nojiko's… and I went to stop them. The only thing I could do is to promise to work twice as hard, to work for them forever and never complain and that he'd let the townspeople go back without being hurt anymore. But I know they'll be punished still for d-disobeying. I can't do anything else. I can't leave the island anymore!"

Sunny looked up at her with half opened eyes, a stronger look on his soft face; a look of both determination and melancholy.

Nami started with realization. "You're…Sunny, you're not just an animal. You're intelligent, _aware._ More than an animal. You really _understand,_ don't you? You understand my feelings." She gave him a look, softer and more honest than he'd seen—something with admiration.

 _A creature with not just sympathy but empathy!_ She couldn't help but marvel at the idea.

Then there was a the door unlocked and opened and in a flash, nearly too fast for Sunny to understand, Nami scooped him up and was trying to toss him out the open window.

"What's this?" Even faster than Nami was this blue humanoid, who secured a webbed hand around Nami's wrist. Two predatorial eyes looking down at her past a large, serrated nose. "A little pet for poor Snow White?"

Nami froze, and the man tore me from her grip by the scruff.

 _Damn you, let go of me!_ I struggled, letting loose my flame. _People have to stop picking me up like that, I'm too big for that!_

The man winced, but only tightened his grip. For some reason, my fire wasn't as effective as it should have been. He shook Sunny roughly until the fire flickered out. Nami felt a bulge of panic rising in her throat, but she couldn't bring herself to move from where she was on the floor, except to tighten her fists against the ground. _If only I'd been a little faster!_

"What's this strange creature?" The man now sounded interested, and called back to another man, standing in the doorway. "See if we still have that cage. Then find out if this is worth anything. If not, we'll add it to the stew tonight." He said, passing the struggling creature to the other man.

As the other man accepted, the fire-type reached out and secured his teeth around the man's pinky finger and bit down as hard as he could.

"Shit!" he said, prying it off, and hitting Sunny in the head. Sunny felt everything go starry, then dark, and he had a moment to wonder when he'd gotten outside before he lost consciousness, a plume of smoke leaving his mouth.

Nami felt tears well up in her eyes again. Sunny had been completely innocent in this and she'd dragged him into it. She dug her nails into her tattoo until it bled. Poison. She was poison to anyone who she let get near her. Poison to the townspeople, poison to the Strawhats, poison to a kind, little shrew creature, too.

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 **1**. **How old is Sunny? Well, I have this Pokemon aging theory that I use in my other long term pokefic, but basically, a tame pokemon ages a little slower than a dog until it reaches adulthood (around 2) and then ages at the same rate of a human after. So a healthy pokemon could live about 70 years (so they'd die around when their trainer would, I don't need any heartbreak), wild pokemon about 30. So, Sunny is about 6 months old. So think big puppy, not very useful, just trying to figure things out, but on the cusp of being a force to be reckoned with. He'll get strong, he's just not quite there yet.**

 **2\. Also, yes, a little lore on how the pokemon got where they are. Is there more to that story? It can only be revealed in time because that's all Sunny knows.**

 **3\. I'm using pokemon typing only in regards to Sunny. Fire might be powerful against a fishman normally because it could dry him out, but if Sunny tries it, it's Not Very Effective. Same for it him being in water, or fighting something that is ice, ground, or grass-affiliated. If he's involved, it'll go by poke typing rules.**

 **4\. Take it easy on my boy Sunny. He's level 5 in a world of superpowered people. And Nami had to angst.**


	5. Encounter in Cocoyashi Village

**Thank you all so much for your reviews! This week's chapter is a little shorter but the next one is extra long!**

WhiteyWolf28 (as always), Squidzi Galaxi (Thank you *again*), gwencarson126 (hey that's my last name...am I supposed to say that?), Nightwing52 (I'm totally willing to post what I wrote for the Shinx story if people are interested! If not, I'll just PM you! It was like 7k before I converted it for Sunny.) Roxxy.G (Don't worry about your writing, English is my second language too, everyone has to start somewhere :)) CallmeCrazylol (Sunny has Blaze but as for other abilities/moves, we'll have to wait and see), Gamelover41592 (That's the plan. Drives me crazy when people have pokefics where no one ever evolves!)

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Sunny woke up in a dark and damp basement, in a cage, feeling quite sore. He shifted around a couple times before he realized the gravity of the decidedly bad situation he'd found himself in. And there was shouting from above. Angry shouting, and impacts that shook the floor, sending off sparks of dust. Someone, or many people, more likely, were out there fighting. And it sounded like Luffy.

 _But how did he get here?_ Sunny wondered, standing up to check the locking mechanism. It was a usual cage with a latch, also secured with rope. Not exactly cyndaquil proof-at least not this one.

Sunny blew out a thin stream of flame for several seconds until the rope was charred and brittle. It only took a tug or two after for the rope to snap.

Now for the lock. Sunny pushed himself up to the door and slid his arms out of the cage, with all the dexterity he could manage. He didn't know why everyone in this world seemed to assume he was unintelligent just because he walked around on four legs, but for that moment, he was very thankful for human's lack of understanding of those different than them. He moved the latch up, then yanked it to the side so it unlocked, then did the same with the lower one. He'd had to figure out how to get a cage like this open in the past, and he was just glad that he had that knowledge now, as the cage door swung open and let jumped down to the floor, running up the stairs and outside toward the shouting.

Outside was a mess. Sunny could barely follow what was happening and ducked under a chair near the door facing the pool as he attempted to process the scene. Luffy was there, and so was Nami, and Usopp, and Zoro, and what that _Sanji?_

Luffy looked like he had just started trading blows with the man who had caught Sunny before and the rest were fighting against other blue people, except for Nami, who was standing to the side, Luffy's strawhat on her head, covering her mouth as she tried not to cry.

Sunny managed to shake himself out of his reticence as the brown fish-person who had knocked him out before pointed at him and shouted, "Hey, it's that fire mouse, how did you get out!"

There was nowhere to go but forward, with the clanging of weapons and impacts of fists all around. And who would he be if he turned proverbial tail just as his friends had arrived?

Sunny charged forward toward the man, igniting his flames. With the starting distance between him, he now had a chance to fight the way he'd attempted to earlier against him. He let his throat heat up and it's consistency changed until he was a few feet away from the man, where he exhaled a thick, black smokescreen.

"What the—?" The man started to backpedal, but the cloud of cinder extended further around him.

 _I have about ten seconds to make this count,_ Sunny thought, pushing forward. He couldn't see in the thick fog either, not that it mattered. He knew exactly where the large man was, that he was taking uneven steps back. With his considerable speed, Sunny skirted around him, turned his back to him, waited a second, put his weight on his front legs, and nailed a double kick to the man's ankle.

"Agh!" the man cried out, his arms lashing out instinctively, but Sunny was too low to the ground to be hit. There wasn't quite a crack like he'd expected so Sunny had to improvise slightly and whipped around to bite the injured ankle, which he could see now. The smoke was beginning to clear. He pushed his teeth in further as the man reached down to grab him, and he moved out of the way, raking his teeth to the other side as he went. He yelled out as the smoke finally cleared.

"Huh? It's the rat." Zoro said, dropping out of his sword stance in surprise.

 _Why is that the only thing people say when they see me?_ Sunny lamented while turning to him and greeting him with a dubious "Cyn!"

Then jumped out of the way as the man punched a hole in the cement. Sunny retreated over to Zoro, who actually looked pretty badly hurt, with bloodied bandages stretching across his entire chest. The fish man followed furiously, limping slightly as his ankle dripped blood onto the ground.

"Tagging out? Guess I'll finish this one up," Zoro grinned, slashing toward his new opponent. The fishman swung out a fist, aiming for the Zoro's wounded chest, but his punch was stopped with the edge of Zoro's sword, spurting blood from his fingers.

The green haired man narrowed his eyes. "You should know better than to use your fists against a swordsman," he grunted as a fist impacted with his stomach, spreading the bloodstain. "And you should also know I promised my captain I would never lose again." And with that, he put a third sword in his mouth, spun and charged the man. By the time he flicked the blood off his sword, the man had fallen to the ground.

Sunny was flabbergasted at the swordsman. He knew he was ridiculously powerful, if only by the time he spent training and his sheer aura. But then he collapsed onto one knee, clutching his side.

 _This is bad,_ Sunny thought, running up to him. _In the middle of the battlefield._

Behind them, an explosion of water went off, as Luffy was dragged underwater by the sword-nosed pirate and the splashing continued. Immediately after, Sanji shouted an expletive and dove after him, ignoring his fight.

Sunny bit Zoro's pant leg, attempting to guide him away from the battle as a few drops of blood curled down his fingers, but he resisted.

"I'm not walking away, either," he said, pulling away and began to pull off his boots to dive after Luffy and Sanji. He was breathing hard and Sunny had seen more focused eyes from confused weedle. The opponent Sanji had been facing was now being peppered by small projectiles by Usopp, who was perched on a high ledge. Nami looked like a deer in the headlights, hand up to secure Luffy's hat to her head. Sunny was glad to see besides looking devastated, she didn't have that desperate hungry look to her and she was relatively unscathed.

Sunny caught motion in his perpetually squinted eyes. The fishman was lifting up his gaze, still clear and predatory. His hand was moving to his pocket when Sunny made a split second decision and charged, closing the space between them yet again. He was grateful to have seen the minuscule motion. Usually, his vision wasn't this sharp, especially not better than Zoro's, who evidently hadn't.

Sunny locked his teeth around the man's wrist and bit down as hard as he could, digging into the hard cement ground and pulling his arm away from his pocket with everything he could muster, jerking his mouth from side to side. A cyndaquil's teeth weren't meant for attack, but they were small and sharp and with leverage, just enough to puncture its rough skin.

The fishman hissed in pain and reached out to swat Sunny, who registered the movement in the fishman's body but only held tighter in response. His fire blazed to life. _If he's going to hit me, I'm not going to be the only one getting hurt,_ he thought.

But before the fist could come down on him, a sword slid easily between the two, an inch above Sunny's head.

Zoro smiled from his crouched position as the meaty fist cut itself on his katana for the second time. Zoro was barefoot and bloodied, but the look on his face was determined now. He held his katana still, his experience as a swordsman letting him expertly negate the recoil. Sunny felt a few splattering drops fall on his head but he held on, closing his eyes tighter.

"That's not a good idea," the swordsman said to the fishman. Then he glanced down at Sunny. "You're an aggressive one, aren't you? Get out of here, he's mine, you're getting in the way."

Sunny wasn't going to mess with him with that look on his face, besides, he'd used most of the tricks up his sleeve. Sunny released the man as he pulled and backed away toward the hedges to survey the scene. Sunny hadn't intended to jump into the fight unless Nami had been alone and desperate but he'd entered the fray almost without thinking.

 _Without thinking,_ he corrected, he had had no idea how strong the Strawhats or their enemies were. He easily could have had every bone in his body crushed.

Luffy, dripping wet but rescued from the water, had begun his face off with Arlong in earnest, rubber fists flying into their hideout and sending up plumes of dust.

Usopp fired small yet accurate projectiles at stray fishmen but they were almost all accounted for. Sunny headed for Nami, who was watching the quickly collapsing building with tears in her eyes. Tears of relief. Relief that Sunny hadn't had the words or strength to provide. He'd been a prisoner as much as Nami in the end. Nami fell more than crouched to the ground when she saw the small creature approach. Her hand went to the brim of the straw hat again.

"You're okay…I was worried what they'd done to you," she reached out a hand as if to say he was fine, and maybe she might be too.

Maps and papers flew out the window and levels of the building came crashing down.

"Nami!" Luffy shouted, "YOU'RE FREE!"

Nami's hands went to her mouth and she heaved a loud sob.

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 **Thank you for reading! See you all soon! Review button is right over V here V somewhere V V V**


	6. Sleuth

**Hey guys! Chapter's up early because I got a snow day (it's -22F over here, so no work!) so I figured it was cause for celebration. Plus this last chapter got 6 reviews and I'm excited about it! (I'm on a 6 per chapter streak lol) Thank you all for coming back week after week and reviewing. Means the world to me.**

 **To answer some questions: 1. Sunny knows ember, but not reliably. Yep, his mom was a big part of his life. 2. Yep, fast arc, Cocoyashi arc is about 8k so that's nothing compared to the record-breaking 1.5k Baratie arc lol**

 **This chapter is way long for me. There just wasn't a good way to cut it without making the next chapter weird so here we are. Also some weird things are happening with my chapter writing. I'm working on this chapter and chapter 9 at the same time while chapter 7 is done and chapter 8 hasn't been started. I'm either crazy or doing galaxy brain writing. Enjoy!**

* * *

Things slowed down after Luffy's proclamation of Nami's freedom. The orange-haired girl stayed on the ground and the remaining fishmen dove into the East Blue. Ussop cautiously crept into the empty battlefield. Luffy made his way to Nami and spoke quietly to her. She covered her mouth and nodded and he helped her to her feet, reclaiming his hat with a grin while blood dripped from the bite wounds on his arms and shoulders.

The adrenaline was still running through me, almost enough that I was shaking. The last day had been fraught with uncertainty and fear but the Strawhats were here now. And somehow even with the chaos they wreaked, it made me feel, not safe, but placated.

The Strawhats stayed a few days, gathering supplies and recovering from both the fishman and fight and the fight they'd had with those pirates and their crew, who had shown up at the Baratie. They'd defeated them, Luffy had impressed Sanji enough he'd decided to come along, much to Sunny's surprise. But if anyone could, it would be the Strawhat's charismatic Captain.

After the fight, they'd all made their way to Nami's house, surrounded by a small orchard of mikan. This time, Nami didn't say anything about me leaving nor did she offer for me to come back for dinner. I was so disoriented by the recent events, I followed blindly, numbly behind the crew. Everyone was quiet, even Luffy, but his tired grin still gave off plenty of excitement and pride. Once we got to her house, Nojiko ushered us in with a shove. She looked harried and exhausted but thrilled, once she heard the news.

Everyone immediately slumped into chairs or couches. Nami slipped into another room and reappeared twenty minutes later, looking red eyed but determined.

Zoro was fast asleep on a chair, moving. Usopp had already treated him and Nami helped him as they went around treating injuries.

* * *

Nami approached me a while later after everyone's injuries had been tended to. I was laying quietly in the corner and turned my attention toward the red-headed girl as she approached. To my mild surprise, she sat next to me and gently scooped me up, careful of the soot-covered bruise on the side of my head. She looked thoughtful like she wanted to say something but she ultimately looked like she was at a loss. So Nami gently wiped away dirt with a handtowel and offered me a handful of seeds. They were strange looking and when I tried one, they were salty and crunchy and the perfect size. Nami gently pet my back over my firespots like she wasn't worried about them even though she'd seen them in action.

We all fell asleep that way, lulled by the dusky sky, sprawled about exhausted in the small living room. Part way through the night, I woke quickly to the twitches in Nami's arm.

I didn't move as she set me down, padded quietly toward her room. I listened to the loud snores of the other crewmembers and thought to myself, Nami might believe in them now, but it will be a while until she won't be sneaking off into the night.

 _Nami, above all the rest, is the most in touch with her pokemon side_. _Her instincts are strong so they will keep her alive even when she isn't strong. Like me, they served her well._

What were my instincts telling me? To find a group to be safe, to find the other cyndaquil and avoid the terrifying open sea. But there were no cyandaquil here and there never were, except for me.

But I had found a group, one that came with a heavy price of danger. Well, more than a group, a word stronger that I couldn't bring myself to use. Was it worth it to sneak onto their ship again?

My eyes dipped shut again, bidding me to worry about that later.

There was a saying among pokemon his mother had told him—'foresight is for humans and Abra' So I wouldn't worry about it for now.

The next morning, everyone was slow to rise. I was the first one awake as I felt the footfalls of the cook, Sanji, walking around. I cracked open an eye to see the blond pulling food and supplies from Nojiko and Nami's kitchen and making breakfast. I thought I'd close my eyes a little longer as quiet filled my head and woke up again when sunlight was streaming through the window and to a set table full of french toast and omelets and still-sizzling bacon. Everyone but Zoro made it to breakfast and after we were done, Luffy exclaimed he wanted to give me a tour with the vitality of someone half as bandaged as he was.

"Luffy, Sunny's been on the island longer than you have," Nami tried to explain. But Luffy wouldn't have it.

* * *

"Oi, Zoro, you wanna come too?" Luffy asked, putting on his sandals where Nami, him, Usopp, and myself were at the front door, preparing to head out a few minutes later.

"He's not gonna wake up. The idiot fought too hard," Sanji said, then directed his voice toward the swordsman. "Hey Zoro, want some sake?" Zoro didn't stir.

"Zorooo! Want me to bring you back something cool?" Luffy yelled.

"Sure, Captain," Zoro mumbled, cracking an eye open for a moment.

"Shithead!" Sanji yelled, throwing a dirty ladle at the injured man, who caught it and let it clatter to the floor before rolling over and going back to sleep.

"Shishishi!"

* * *

After a brief walk through the town, Nami had given up on any effort to get a proper tour to Luffy, who kept getting sidetracked or complaining and she and Usopp had gone off to the general store.

"Aw, they left. What should we do now?" Luffy looked down at me. I tilted my head helplessly. I didn't know any good spots either. In fact, the idea of being in a town without needing to worry about people trying to hurt me was a strange feeling. What had I always wanted to do that I never could? I didn't even know where to begin.

Then I remembered something Nami had said. I ran down the street, Luffy immediately following in a run a step behind me. I stopped at the base of the first coconut tree I saw and put my front legs up on it.

"Coconuts? Good idea!" Luffy's arm extended out to grab one twenty feet above us with ease and he bonked it against a rock so it split in half. He handed the smaller half down to me and he ate his half in three bites, shell and all.

"Hello? Can I have a moment of your time?" We both looked up. A man with a small mouth wearing white clothes approached. "Are you the ones who saved our town from those pirates and scared off those Marines?"

Luffy looked at him blankly for a moment. I slurped the coconut water.

"Yeah, that was my crew," Luffy said breaking into a grin.

"What do you call yourselves?"

"The Strawhat pirates, and I'm Monkey D. Luffy, I'm going to be—"

"Of course, do you mind if I get a picture of you? I'm a journalist…for the Cocoyashi Chronicle," the man said holding up his camera.

"—The King of the Pirates!" Luffy finished. The camera flashed.

The camera abruptly turned to me, startling me enough to look up from my gnawed coconut in time to hear a snap and a blinding flash of light that made me see floating blue shapes. The man thanked us and ran off.

"What a weird guy," Luffy laughed.

"Cyndaquil…" I had to agree. Strange things always seemed to happen around the pirates. But looking around the island I was suddenly all too aware of what Luffy and Nami had said.

 _"_ _We won't eat you and we'll bring you to another island—that's a promise!"_

 _"_ _There's plenty of coconut trees and small animals to play with, and you could even visit my sister and I if you want, and try our grove's tangerines."_

They intended to make me stay here.

* * *

The rest of the day passed more lazily as we headed back to the house for lunch and Luffy crashing back onto his cot for a needed nap. Nami disappeared again for most of the day and everyone got a mikan after Sanij's delicious beef stroganoff. I slept next to the fireplace that night and still no one had sent me off on the island on my own like they'd promised. The next morning, Luffy announced they'd leave after lunch and I waited for Zoro to point out I was still there, hanging around like a stubborn booger. No one did.

Finally, Luffy said it was time to go and Sanji packed up plenty of food and Nami bid farewell to a grateful if weathered village.

Still no word on me staying behind and eating charred coconuts for the rest of my life. Not even Nami was staying. The call of adventure of the high seas was too strong even for a careful girl like her. They began to load the Merry with supplies. I watched, not having any hands to lend to the process. There hadn't been any casualties as Nami had given herself up to protect the villagers and the Strawhats had shown up before the other pirates could 'teach them a lesson.' In short, even dozens of miles apart, it was as if the crew had worked in perfect sync with each other. I had the realization that they were powerful and there was no chance that I could sneak onboard again without anyone knowing. If they were going to leave me on this island, they would make sure I wasn't on the boat again before setting sail. Maybe the world didn't want a little fire type on the sea anyway.

Finally, the crew was standing on the small harbor, the Merry loaded for her voyage.

"Alright! I have an announcement!" Luffy cheered, an omnipresent grin on his face even larger. He laughed to himself as the crew and I turned our attention to him. "Shishishishi…Our crew has a swordsman and a liar and a cook and our navigator. But we still need a Leuitenant of Cabin-warming!" He announced proudly.

Sanji and Usopp gave him especially strange glances. Nami caught on even before I did.

"Sunny would be our…" Nami started confused.

"Our crewmate! Officially. He may look funny like a mutant and only be able to say one word, but he's definitely got what it takes to be on the future Pirate King's crew!"

I blinked. So Luffy wanted me on his crew? I knew he did before, but I thought the rest of the crew wouldn't take it seriously, really they hadn't, except for Nami, who had seemed like she wanted a pet. But a crewmate? I thought about the fight, how I'd been knocked out, how Nami had tried to protect me and Zoro had to step in to help me, the canyon between our strength had never been so plainly apparent. I wouldn't be a stowaway, passenger or pet, but a _crewmate_ that was expected to contribute. My head spun at the thought.

"I'm the _Sniper Captain,_ not the liar! And Lieutenant of Cabin Warming is horrible!" Usopp complained. "Sunny wants to be the Lieutenant of Fire!"

"What does that even mean?" Nami demanded.

Luffy thought for a moment. "Well, Sunny would be a second-in-command whenever we go somewhere cold or when food needs warming away from the ship or if my hands get cold."

"THAT'S TOO MUCH POWER!" Nami yelled, hitting Luffy in the head with her good arm. "He's still a baby animal, you know!"

"Idiot, I'm in charge of the food! If there's no fire, I'll MAKE it." Sanji added heatedly.

Zoro drew a long sigh, his captain had made his decision. "Well, they say taking care of an animal teaches responsibility."

Luffy sulked. "For now, Sunny'll be the Junior Lieutenant of Fire then. How does that sound?" he directed the second part to me, crouching down in front of me and extending a hand with a gentle smile. I instantly remembered him trying to pet me like this shortly after I'd first met him, but I'd been scared and dashed away. He didn't move his hand closer, just held it a little ways a way.

"You're ready for an adventure, aren't you, Sunny?"

A tingle of excitement ran down my spine to my toes. _I_ _was._ These humans, _humans,_ had become my sleuth. Sleuth—a word I hadn't used since my mother's death, a word we had called our family. A group of cyndaquil where called a whisker, and a family of cyndaquil evolutions were a sleuth. And if these strange humans were my sleuth now, they were the biggest family I'd had since the Big Displacement.

They—no, Luffy—could give me the strength I needed to find the person I'd been looking for. Just a week ago, it had seemed a distant but constant dream pushed aside by the need to survive and the sheer eminence of the task. But Luffy didn't care what was impossible, and I clung on to that.

"Cynnn!" I rumbled happily, pushing my head into Luffy's palm affectionately. He laughed and gave the top of my head a scratch as I nuzzled the calloused hand.

* * *

I woke up in the boy's cabin the morning of the second day on the water well-rested. I was feeling 100% again after the fight, maybe even better. I had slept on the quilt folded to be my size with high sides that Usopp made for me. Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp were still asleep, collectively snoring loud enough to make a slight vibration through the floor even on their hammocks. I imagined how much more quiet Nami's room would be and wondered why 80% of the crew was in the same room while she had one to herself with extra beds.

I shook myself off and stood, feeling my temperature rise in response to waking, burning away any drowsiness. I hopped up the ladder one rung at a time, brace myself on the top run and nose the wooden hatch open just enough that I can slip through. It's a process, certainly not one designed with Cyndaquil in mind, but I've learned how to manage.

On the deck, Nami was sitting in a beach chair looking over an old chart. The sun had barely risen but she had a steaming drink next to her, which meant Sanji had already come by. My stomach growled slightly. And if Sanji was awake…

Sanji was the biggest mystery of the crew to me. Floating and obsessive about Nami while serious and distant to others. Meanwhile, Nami looked at peace, as if lost in thought as she examined the map and Sunny remembered all the other maps from that tower flying through the air and Luffy's cry and Nami's face. Her tattoo had changed from the Arlong Pirates to a windmill and mikan.

She looked focused. Better not interrupt her now. Still, I was bored of being on the water and most everyone was asleep so I headed for the kitchen.

I made it to the kitchen door but stopped, stumped at the great wooden barrier before me. The only way in was a couple feet above my snout.

I sat up on my back legs and shoved against the door a few times before sitting back. A moment or two later, the door opened and I was greeted by an unnatural stretch of black pant leg. I squinted up at the blond cook, who looked down at me with faint surprise and curiosity. We hadn't really interacted with each other before, I realized. I waited a beat and when the cook didn't do or say anything, I padded between Sanji's feet and into the kitchen.

I heard a heavy sigh, followed by the door swinging shut as Sanji went back to the stovetop where he was cooking breakfast.

The whole room was warm and full of interesting scents for me to pick out, making me wonder why I didn't come out here every morning. Well, before it would have been Usopp trying strange recipes and catching things on fire (not that there was anything wrong with flambé) or Zoro would stumble in for his shift fifteen minutes before breakfast cursing before putting out a stack of jerky on hard tack for breakfast. The gentle aromas of fresh ingredients were certainly something new.

Sanji cracked a few eggs into a skillet. "I'm going to guess you're inviting yourself into the kitchen at six in the morning because you're hungry?" Sanji hazarded.

I sniffed in response, reaching up to the seat of one of the chairs, hopping up, and pulling myself onto it, sitting as I'd seen the rest of the crew as a response to his question. I'd learned actions spoke louder than words they couldn't understand. (Why couldn't humans understand pokemon? _All_ pokemon could understand each other, even if we each had our own discreet dialect. We could even understand humans on top of that. And they _still_ thought they were the brains of the operation!)

Sanji did seem to understand my action. "Alright, I'll let you have breakfast a little early, but only because you're a kid, whatever you are." He opened an ice bin and expertly filleted a small flank of salmon off and added it to the pan with butter and dill, scrambling it. "But don't make a habit of it."

He spoke somewhat uncertainly, looking back at me like he wasn't sure what to make of me and was worried I'd make a mess of his kitchen. But every time he looked over at me, I was sitting in a chair watching him patiently. I figured this was the way to get food though, and that hovering around his feet was a recipe to get stepped on instead, so I stuck with my guns and endured the wonderful smells as my stomach growled again quietly.

"Yeah, this is weird," Sanji told himself as he steeped tea and poured it into a teacup. After a moment's hesitation, he set it in front of me. I stared at it in confusion.

"Careful drinking that, it's hot." Sanji turned back around to serve the eggs and salmon over rice.

I hopped up on the table and I stared down at the steaming hot liquid for a second before burying my snout into it with a _slurrrrrp!_

* * *

Sanji spun around to see the large blue shrew stick his snout the near-boiling tea. The washcloth he'd been holding dropped out of his hands. Water burns were no joke—he'd seen plenty of prospective chefs get seriously injured by them. Why had he put it in front of a little animal—?

But the little creature didn't seem to notice as he finished his long slurp and sat back, sighing contentedly, a breath of steam streaming from his mouth in front of a now-empty teacup.

Sanji's slack jaw turned into a small smile of relief at that. "Huh, you liked it? Whatever devil fruit you ate is heat-related, not fire, I guess." He refilled the cup and watched, eyebrow quirked as Sunny drained it again.

Then he poured the salmon and egg rice into a bowl, grabbed the hot sauce on a whim and sat down at the table near Sunny. Sunny sniffed the dish while Sanji sprinkled a little bit of hot sauce on top and pushed it closer to Sunny.

Sunny started into it. It had flavor he'd never expected. It felt like his ember inside his mouth. It was delightful and warmed him but the sensation quickly disappeared. Sunny looked up at Sanji, disappointed. Sanji portioned even more out, making sure to put enough even for Chef Zeff on the food. If it was too strong for the little creature, Luffy would still eat it.

When Sunny tried it, he squealed in delight and put his snout in the food to continue eating as Sanji returned to his cooking, thinking he sure had picked a strange group of pirates to travel with. Even their pet wasn't a pet, it was a crewmember with a heat power and some level of intelligence. Maybe he was a _Zoan, Type: Fire mouse_? Well, whatever he was, Sanji wouldn't have believed it before he saw it.

* * *

 **All the Strawhats have developed different opinions on Sunny and hopefully, it should show. For various understandable reasons, not everyone has come around yet. ¯\\_(** **ツ** **)_/¯**

 **Luffy thinks Sunny is a cool, funny little guy. He's not worried about him like some of the others, because he can protect him just like he can protect the rest. He just knew, just like he did for the rest of the crew, that Sunny was meant to come along.**

 **Tell me what you think! Thanks for reading!**


	7. Execution of Loguetown

**Just want to sincerely thank you all for all you've done for me, espically since today's my 9th annversary on this site! For perspective, after chapter 3, this story was on about the 340** **th** **page of One Piece stories. Three chapters later, it's on page 146. Gonna respond to everyone real quick:**

Kaitou Luminous: **I'm really excited to get to Drum Island, and the Grand Line in general.**

WhiteyWolf26: **Thank you, I wanted to make sure people were invested when he joined the crew! Glad to hear it worked. Thanks for pointing out that whack sentence. Rushed back and fixed it! With the photographer, well, can't get anything past you. And yes, Sunny** ** _is_** **a ferocious brat :)**

Gamelover41592: **Thanks, it was a fun scene to write!**

BA Victoria: **Good catch! Thanks, Sunny loves you too.**

Symonator: **Nothing better than a reading binge! Trust me I have** ** _plans._**

TheAwesomeRoxxyG & Mia : **Thank you! Interesting you should say that when I was just doing some later story planning…**

NightWing52: **Thank you! I try to make Sunny as dynamic as I can. Typical cyndaquil yet surprising sometimes…**

Cyn: **I died laughing realizing I did say they jumped into the West Blue. The dangers of not having a beta, I suppose. Idk what happened to Yosaku lol but since their course was different they didn't see them. Zeff told them where Arlong was. I definitely like to play with move-sets and attacks so you'll see a variety. The pokemon trainer is interesting…when more lore on the Big Displacement comes up, you'll see why :)**

 **Sorry for the long A/N, might start replying via PM or something bc I definetly want to talk to all of you.**

* * *

The rest of the day elapsed lazily. Once the other boys were up and breakfast was had (seven o'clock sharp), Luffy suggested fishing. Once Usopp caught one, it flew into the air, line snapping. Sunny persued the flopping fish around the deck while Luffy alughed uproariously.

The fun only ended when its tail slapped Sunny in the face and he toasted it. Luffy enjoyed a delicious post-breakfast snack though, despite Usopp's loud complaints.

That night, Nami announced they'd reach Loguetown around midday tomorrow. Loguetown, the last stop before the Grand Line and apparently an important place for pirate-kind. Ahead of them, strange creatures and adventures abound.

* * *

Sanji made sure everyone had a hearty breakfast the next day as they gated in the port. "We need to make sure to stay in groups," he said, "someone with directional sense sould keep an eye out for Zoro and someone needs to make sure Luffy doesn't do anything stupid—why do I feel like all your fathers right now?" He asked to himself, slapping his head.

Zoro hopped the side of the Merry and walked toward the town. "No thanks, I'm off to find a drink and a sword."

"Sanji want to help me with supplies?" Nami asked and Sanji went from aggravated to lovesick in a second.

"Oh, _of course,_ Nami-swan!" he cooed.

"Scrap!" Usopp shouted, also jumping ship and hightailing it to the nearest flea market.

"Shishishi! I'm off sight-seeing!" Luffy secured his hat to his head and took off, grabbing a lamp pole dozens of feet away and propelling away.

Very quickly, Sunny realized that everyone had dispersed in different directions and he was alone on the boat. His eyes opened wide as he ran in a quick little circle in surprise before hopping off the side of the boat, landing on the dock with a thump, and taking off toward a random direction to find any of his crewmates. There wasn't a chance for Sunny to scent them, and there were a dizzying amount of vibrations underfoot. In fact, even on the outskirts of the port town, there was so much movement, Sunny knew this was the biggest town he'd ever seen.

 _What's this place called? Loguetown? It must be the biggest town on the seas! Mom would have mentioned something like this if she'd seen something like this in Johto too!_ Sunny thought to himself in awe.

He briefly pondered staying out of the town entirely, but he was pirate a pirate now, and pirates were explorers. And explorers didn't choose not to explore because it was scary or intimidating.

Sunny made his way down the street, staying close to the walls of buildings and cautious to any children or shopkeepers with brooms, as those were the only people who often bothered with him. There were still too many people, however, and Sunny had no choice but to duck into the first alley he saw and follow through it. He could smell the ripe garbage in the dumpsters clearly.

 _A little over a week ago, I would be looking for scraps, and now I'm eating a chef's food three times a day!_

Sunny followed the alleyway, a few white rats a third his size scurrying away as they saw him. He reached the other side of the alleyway and paused, surveying from the safety of the dark alley. Humans seemed to hate them, making it perfect shelter for rodent kind, no matter the size. He was having no look identifying any of his crewmates, and all the people seemed to blend together a little bit. Humans tended to look pretty similar.

 _Oh. Except for that one,_ Sunny amended. She was walking closest to the alley, looking almost like Nami but taller, much taller and with black hair and a bikini top and a huge spiked club and a horrible aura clouding around her. Sunny sweated slightly. That was not a normal person, he'd have to avoid her. She looked like someone who'd kick anything underfoot.

 _This is weird, I should probably head back for the ship,_ Sunny thought to himself, _I can't get back onto the ship but I can hide near the docks until Nami gets back._

But as Sunny was trying to find his way back down the slanting alley, he realized he must have taken a turn somewhere as he ended up somewhere he didn't recognize again. He lamented that they weren't in a nice field where he wouldn't get lost. If he couldn't find his way back, they might leave him behind!

And now he was closer to the center of town, where there were more people and even _dogs._ It made him shake just to imagine one of them catching his scent and getting away from their humans.

"Oho! Look at this little guy!" A voice said. Sunny jumped slightly as a green haired man with a nose ring walked closer to the entrance of the alleyway. The strange man pulled a piece of linty cheese from his pocket and held it out toward him. "Want a little treat?"

Sunny absolutely did not want a treat, especially not from the weirdest looking person he'd seen yet, with hair the same color as Zoro's but much longer and exaggerated facial features. _I take it back, people are diverse, especially compared to pokemon, where we look pretty similar to each other, except for Spinda._

The man took a step closer, still offering the cheese. I bounded past him into the crowded street, avoiding feet as a couple exclamations of shock passed overhead.

"Huh? Where are you going? What a weird little dog," the strange man said.

* * *

Nami handed the last bag of clothes to Sanji, who accepted most gratefully.

"And that should be everything," she smiled, unable to see Sanji over the stack of clothes she'd bought. Not just for her either, she was nice enough to get a new outfit or two for everyone. "Oh, we had to get supplies too, right Sanji?" She suddenly remembered.

Sanji wiggled behind the tower of boxes and bags. "Not a problem, Nami-swan! I picked things out as we went as to not waste your precious time!" He cooed. "Ah, there's only one more thing I need to pick up!"

Sanji turned to the man at the general goods stand, voice back to his neutral tone. "I'll need a bottle of cayenne hot sauce as well, please."

* * *

Just as Sunny was losing hope, he bumped into a familiar face—Usopp! The harried little shrew pokemon ran over to his friend and tapped his leg to let him know he was here.

"Sunny?" Usopp looked around, expecting to see the others. "What are you doing alone?"

"Quu," Sunny whistled, unsure himself.

The liar adjusted a large box heaped with scraps of metal to one hand so he could jab a thumb at himself with the other. "Alright, stay with me, Usopp: Friend and Protector of Animals will make sure you don't get grabbed or stepped on by anyone!"

Sunny decided to take the reassurance and dogged his feet while he finished his purchases when the air seemed to change. People were moving, tension plumed in the air like spores, the sounds of the town seemed to go from loud ambiance to low whispers and shuffles.

Sunny looked around the confusion. Humans were puppeted by their emotions, Sunny's mother had always told him. So much that if there is a disaster, you wouldn't need to feel the earth to sense it, you could feel it from the humans hanging in the air.

And a group of people this large, there was a weighty blanket of must laying stagnant over the town in mere seconds, putting Sunny on edge. People tended to rationalize themselves out of their fear and into something else. And Sunny felt the phenomena stronger than he should have—all the anticipation, anxiety.

Sunny called up to Usopp, treading on his feet as he started back to the square he'd come from. Usopp protested his surprise but followed the fire shrew with his supplies. Sunny was running now as the people had run out of space to walk further, making it significantly easier to pass through their legs. Sunny's heart pounded with the nervousness of a person passing through a herd of rhino liable to scatter any moment. He scarcely ducked out of the way of a fast approaching foot and bolted forward.

Sunny heard a voice high above the crowd say, "I met a few business partners at the tavern the other day, they made my plan much easier to enact. And here we are! My revenge!"

He couldn't hear Usopp anymore, but he could still double back if it were nothing.

A high-pitched voice said from somewhere else, "Enough gloating, boss! Kill him!"

Once he was closer to the front, he climbed onto an abandoned food cart at the edge of the plaza and looked out to see what the commotion had been.

High above them, at the top of a scaffolding, stood a clown-faced pirate wielding a scimitar, foot pressed against the back of Sunny's captain. His head was on a chopping block as he grinned down at the crowd as if it was all a big joke.

Sunny picked up Zoro's yell, and Sanji's too. They were closest to the front, calling for their captain.

Sunny's blood didn't freeze, it boiled. Flames shot from his back in the moments before the scimitar swung down. Powerless as Zoro and Sanji to cover the incredible distance between them and their captain. At the point of that scimitar was the end of their bright, wild captain and the end of their exciting adventure to the mythic Grand Line. The scimitar took a downward arc as it began to rain.

"Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sunny, Sanji, I'm sorry—I'm dead!" It was the end.

But the story had only just started.

That moment, the air thickened like syrup and a bright light like frayed rope appeared before the crowd, striking the scaffolding above them. There was a loud groan of heated metal lost in the thunderclap a moment later and the platform lay destroyed on the ground.

People screamed and took off as far as they could get from the chaos. Sunny could see the burning wreckage as he clung to the umbrella stand as people clearing out of the way. A man with a thin build, tan skin and multi-patterned robes with a floppy hat pulled himself off the ground, holding his head. He'd been very close to the wreckage.

Sunny jumped off the cart and began to make his way toward the scaffolding where Luffy had been. It wasn't too late, was it? He thought desperately. He could hear the shouts of his crewmates again too. The gaudy, thin man dusted himself off. All of a sudden, the smoking rubble shifted and a yellow hat and the sly smile of their captain appeared.

"Hey, Luffy!" Zoro shouted.

The ostentatious tenor-voiced man looked up in surprise. "Eh? Buggy couldn't finish them off? I'll fix that!" The man lifted a hand, muttering something and a small blaze of fire began forming in his hand. Luffy noticed and tried to pry his arm out that was stuck under a warped steel beam.

I ran as fast as I could. That was fire! I knew how destructive that could be—I could still imagine trees aflame and cinders rising from parched grass like fireflies on the day mom died.

Luffy may not have been hurt by that lightning but he could definitely be hurt by fire! Just as the ball of fire was released, I jumped up between them, head lowered toward the ground so my back would take the brunt of the attack. I flew back a few feet from the impact, back smoldering slightly, but pulled myself back up to my feet and shook off the blow. My back was nearly fireproof—it would take more than that to beat me at my own game.

"Waha?" The strange man exclaimed, his thick braid of orange hair looking frazzled from his own attack. "You withstood an attack from the mighty possessor of the mage-mage fruit? The renown Wizard of the East Blue, Sundries!"

I heard a pop from the rubble behind me and saw Luffy had finally freed himself from the steel beam. He gave me a sooty grin. "Thanks, Sunny! You sure saved me!"

I smiled back and felt a swell of confidence flare in him. I had protected my captain, even if he knew it wouldn't affect him much. I had _helped._

"Luffy, you _idiot!"_ Zoro said as the green-head and blond slowed to a stop next to their captain.

"Oh hey, guys! Have you seen Buggy? I need to settle something with him," Luffy said, cracking his knuckles.

"I don't think that will be an issue," Sanji said, jabbing a thumb toward the still-smoking unconscious clown that had been trying to kill Luffy just a minute earlier. Luffy frowned.

"Guys! We need to get back to the Merry!" Usopp yelled a little ways away, running in place. He seemed to have abandoned his box of metal scrap and instead filled his pockets with a few handfuls. Nami had evidently found me and was standing next to him, looking like she might bolt at any moment. Usopp was pointing to a group of approaching white-clad people charging at them. "Catch those guys! The kid said they were pirates!"

"And terrorists and _liars!"_ A black-haired woman added, drawing her sword.

The lightning had brought a drizzle of rain and an overcast sky. I briefly considered fixing the miserable weather but thought better of it—there wasn't enough time for that amount of concentration.

"Run!" Sanji shouted, pulling Zoro in the correct direction when he attempted to run further into the town.

We started sprinting toward the docks through a wide alley devoid of people when a man holding a jitte weapon and two cigars in his mouth slid in front of the opening of the alley. On the other side, the tall, shiny woman with the iron mace appeared. Both offenders looked at each other in shock for a moment before turning back toward us and charged.

* * *

 **They were late to Loguetown, Buggy made another ally: Sundries the mage-mage fruit user. But he also really embodies the meaning of the word. Thank you again!**


	8. Mad Dash to Merry

**In regards to Sunny's stats, yes, I love meta information. Funny thing is, I'm not using pokemon stats since I don't know how to calculate them and the majority of his opponents will be human, I've been supplementing with dnd 5e rules with the Pokemon homebrew. So in that, he's a level 1 (out of 20) cyndaquil while Luffy, for example, is a level 3 way of rubber monk, etc. It helps me come up with difficulties and what is or isn't possible. That said, I do know that Sunny is level 8 currently and has a Timid nature, and decent SpA, Atk, and Speed IVs.**

* * *

Sanji charged forward to stop the white-haired man's jitte. "Keep going, this one's got a seastone weapon!" He yelled.

Zoro stopped the swordwoman's blade with a look of concentration.

The tall, shiny mace-wielding woman shouted at Luffy, "You brat! I'm going to get my revenge!"

"I don't know who you are!" Luffy yelled irritably. He wound up a punch and walloped her in the head, sending her flying back into the side of the alley.

"Keep moving!" Nami shouted as mud splashed behind her and Sunny had to duck to the side to avoid the worst of it. Though a little bit of rain wouldn't hurt him, he hated getting wet. And besides, he was starting to look like a swamp monster.

"Not so fast, Straw Hat!" The woman pulled herself up from broken pieces of crates. "I'm not done with you."

Luffy adjusted the hat on his head. "You three go ahead. Sanji, Zoro, and I will meet you there," he said.

Usopp nodded. "Good luck!" And we started running again, me blindly following the two through twists and turns of the streets.

"Lahaha! I've got you now!" Sundries, the man who had eaten the mage-mage fruit, jumped out at them half a dozen feet in front of Nami, who skidded to a stop and ducked away with a scream, narrowly avoiding being hit with a bolt of energy.

Nami pulled out her bo staff and swung. Sundries dodged and pushed her over before putting distance between them again.

"Run!" Usopp said, reaching over to help Nami up.

Sunny looked over the magical man with layers of differently patterned clothes. The man stared back, looking slightly nervous as he remembered Sunny shrugging off his attack earlier.

"CYN! Cynda-quil quil!" Sunny squeaked, motioning his head toward the stretch of water that was just within view a couple of blocks further down.

"Sunny, come on!" Usopp said as the two of them moved away.

Sunny shook his head. _Go ahead, I'll make sure he doesn't follow.._

Nami stared at him for a moment, mouth open, but then pulled the protesting Usopp along.

"Staying behind, are you, little mouse?" Sundries said. "Be vanquished knowing that you've been defeated by the great Wizard of the East Blue!" With that, he sent forth another shot of fire, that Sunny dodged and it fizzled out on the wet bricks. Sunny moved quickly, having the advantage of the slippery surface with his low center of gravity and four legs. If he played his cards right, he could bring him to the ground and buy enough time for Nami and Usopp before making his escape.

He threw himself into Sundries' chest in an effort to displace him. The redhead stumbled back with a yelp as Sunny's head impacted the wizard's stomach with surprising force, sending him doubling over slightly. Sunny put some distance between them again and spun around again, preparing fire in his mouth and throat, then smothering it. He held his breath one second, two seconds…

"Get frostbite, little mouse!" Sundries reached out his palm and a burst of ice sprung from his hand to the surprise of Sunny. _He can use ice and fire?_

 _-_ three seconds. Sunny exhaled out his nose and a thick cloud of smoke and soot enveloped the two combatants. At the same time, he felt ice and sleet hit the front of his chest and feet with fury. He couldn't remember the cold very well, just the memory during his sleuth's migration of catching a big snowflake on his nose and it immediately melting away. This was nothing like the fond memory of the briefest chilly weather. It clung to his fur and froze and he found he couldn't move his front feet to the ground. A trapped cyndaquil was a dead cyndaquil!

The smoke still billowed around them. He could faintly see another light. _Another_ type of attack! Shivering, he didn't think he could take another hit like that. His sprung up on his back, even if it risked being seen, and his temperature elevated past what would kill a human until his skin was the temperature of hot tarmac in mid-summer and the fire on his back, unbeknownst to him, and for the first time, rocketed past a thousand degrees, burning a brighter red than ever before.

The ice freezing his paws to the ground steamed. As the smokescreen began to clear, the ice around Sunny completely sublimated.

Another attack whiffed toward the pokemon, a bright ball—electricity this time. Sunny dove to the side, covering his face as stray bolts of electricity loosed as the orb of energy hit a few feet away. The fallen rain directly around him had mostly evaporated with Sunny's surge, preventing the electricity from reaching farther than it should.

"Did I hit it?" The wizard called as if Sunny would reply in the negative or affirmative.

The smoke suffused from the ground finally, the air still gray and ashy. Suddenly, the green-haired man rounded the corner. He approached Sunny and Sundries in a run.

"Huh. I knew that attack looked familiar so I followed the smoke, looks like I was right." He stopped twenty feet from the two fighters, eyeing the raging flames on Sunny's back and noting that Sunny hadn't looked away from his opponent, though the human was eyeing Zoro cautiously.

"I can't believe you're fighting again." Zoro didn't sound impressed. "Luffy and the air-headed blond went ahead, must have missed you. You planning on taking care of this?"

Sunny growled almost imperceptibly. He could tell, it would take maybe two good hits to take this man down. The man was slumped slightly and clutching his side. Maybe just one hit would wind him enough to take him down. He wasn't nearly as strong as the fishmen had been.

A sigh. "Fine, take care of this. I'm going ahead." Zoro said finally, taking off running toward the ship.

Sunny leered at the man, who stumbled back in surprise as the strange burning rodent opened its long, slanted red eyes and watched him with his thin white pupils.

"What?" Sundries growled, his back hitting the brick wall. He prepared another spell. "You're a little devil, aren't you?"

The cyndaquil charged, dodging to the side of the wizard's electric spell, and throwing himself not into his stomach but towards his face, now that he was slumped, he could reach, and impacted with all the weight of his body and fire. Sundries' head impacted against the brick wall. The building electricity in Sundries' hand fizzled out as his mouth opened slightly and his eyes fluttered closed, collapsing into a seated position. Sunny landed close by, huffing for breath. Sunny stayed there for a moment before jumping off Sundries' lap and running down the street toward the rest of the crew, throwing a glance behind him at the unconscious man.

In on the dock in front of the ship, with his arms crossed looking stoic, was Zoro. When he saw Sunny pelting toward him, covered in mud and soot, eyes slitted but content, Zoro smiled.

"About time, campfire," he said turning around. Sunny charged over and climbed onto his shoulder with muddy paws and Zoro easily climbed onto the ship just as Sanji and Usopp raised anchor.

* * *

As Loguetown disappeared behind fog, Nami gathered everyone from the various rigging and they were securing and laid out a poster. Everyone, layered in grime and mud, gathered around it curiously. It was a picture of Luffy grinning wildly with 'WANTED: Straw Hat Luffy' printed on it. Sunny wasn't sure what to make of it, but everyone else balked a little bit, though Luffy chuckled and Zoro gave a small smile.

Nami didn't look pleased at all. "Luffy, this isn't funny!" He jabbed her finger into the poster. "You're wanted _dead or alive_ for 22 million berri! The Marines working with Arlong must have found out about what happened! That means what Buggy was trying to do…" she continued on, voice strained, "if you're caught—the government might try to do to you too!"

"Shishishi! Then I won't let them catch me!" Luffy said.

"Honestly, Nami, you can't expect a pirate not to get a bounty. Consider how much chaos Luffy wrought, there's no way the Marines wouldn't find out." Zoro reasoned.

Nami sighed. "There's more." She slid the paper over, revealing a second one.

"Quil?" Sunny said aloud in surprise. He was looking at a picture of himself holding half a coconut with one of Luffy's feet half-cropped out of the picture.

"Strawhat Mascot. Wanted: Dead or Alive," Nami stated. The air was a little heavier now. Zoro heaved out a sigh. Luffy grin slipped into thought.

"Hey, look though, Sunny's bounty is only _44 berri_ ," Usopp pointed out amusedly. "I didn't know they went that low."

Sanji took a drag of his cigarette. "It still puts undue attention on someone who shouldn't have it," he said. "It's more symbolic for the marines. They're making sure people remember him. No one's going to forget the crew that has the East Blue's highest and lowest bounty."

"Well, I think these are great!" Luffy finally decided, giving Sunny a pat on the head. "We got our first bounty! The Strawhats are worth 22 million and 44 berri! I'm gonna put these up in the kitchen!"

"Oh no you're—" Sanji started after him.

"Not so fast. Before you all do anything, get yourselves cleaned up, you're all so muddy!"

Zoro scowled with mud splattered up to his knees, on one shoulder and his cheek.

"I wouldn't have gotten muddy if _someone_ hadn't climbed onto me while we were escaping," he argued, pointing at Sunny. The muddy fire-type suddenly interested himself in staring at the mast like it held the answers to the world. It wasn't his fault his legs were short and he definitely couldn't outrun or jump onto the ship with his height. And wow, the mast was _really tall._

"It doesn't matter why you got muddy, you are! Clean. Up."

Luffy and Usopp hurried off with the bounty posters. Sanji followed close behind.

With a growl at both Nami and Sunny, Zoro slowly followed the others into the boy's bathrooms.

 _Alright, I think I'm in the clear,_ he thought, as he slowly moved away from the fiery redhead.

"Not so fast, you," Nami warned, equally terrifying, causing Sunny to freeze in his muddy tracks. She picked him up, holding him at an arms-length, though she already had dirt and mud in her shirt and hair. He really was muddy, with splotches all over his coat, muzzle, and even on the top of his head. "We need to clean you off too."

Sunny struggled, splattering more mud onto her, but there was nothing he could do, short of flaming her and incurring her wrath.

"It's okay, it's not saltwater and it'll be a shower not a bath, so your devil fruit powers won't be affected."

 _What are you talking about?_ He complained internally, _do I look like a rubberman to you?_

Of course, she didn't understand, because he was on a crew where no one could understand a word he said.

She brought the shrew pokemon into her bathroom, spotless, but smaller compared to the boys', and closed the door. She shed her muddy clothes and turned on the shower and it steamed like a pot of tea. She took a relaxed breath and stepped in, cleaning herself off and washing her hair while the cyndaquil contented himself with laying in a dry but warm spot in the corner of the room.

Eventually, Nami stepped out of the shower, donned a fluffy bathrobe, and turned her attention toward him. It was like getting kidnapped abruptly from the Baratie all over again.

 _This! Is! Not! A! Good! Idea!_ Sunny cried, trying to get it in her head before he entered the small-pounding-rain-room. _Give me some sand to roll around in and I'll be perfectly clean!_ But even his most clear and overt cynda-speech meant nothing to her.

"Hang on, Sunny, I just need to get you clean, it'll just be a second—"

The first barrage of water hit his back, bouncing off and wetting his fur, Sunny felt it run close to his eyes and screwed them shut as they stung. Small sparks of fire emitted from his back to fend off the rain and he had to fight to quell that instinct that would only exhaust him. The water was tolerable for a few moments but the sheer amount of it made it skyrocket uncomfortable to intolerable in less than ten seconds. The water started to burn like ice and soaked the heat that kept him moving within him.

The pressure of the falling water making it hard to find breath and blinding him. In the time it took for him to get completely soaked, he felt freezing cold, exhausted, and desperate enough to wrench himself from Nami's grip throw himself onto the lowered toilet cover, onto the sink and into the open vent where the steam was rising.

Sunny heard Nami shout in surprise after him but he moved instinctually, half-blind from his irritated eyes, separating himself from the source of water as quickly as he could.

The vent went a few feet forward, claustrophobic as it pushed from every side, but he scooted towards, then up a little ways, but Sunny could brace himself against it with the sheer instinct to get away, climbed the three feet of feet upward, then charged the horizontal surface, barely squeezing through the steaming exit that acted like a chimney to all the steam and heat vents of the ship, and propelling himself out of the deck, numb with cold and shaking like a leaf.

"Hey Sunny! Did you have to take a bath too?" Luffy called from where he was playing with a caterpillar he'd found on Nami's mikan trees.

Sunny stood, unsure of what to do. He felt cold and sick to his stomach.

"Sunnyyyy! Come over and see this cool bug! Eh, Sunny? What are you doing over there?" Luffy popped up off the ground in an easy leap and wandered over.

Sunny closed the distance over to him, stumbling on his feet. Luffy scooped him up and held him to his chest. "Oh, you're shaking! What happened?" Luffy frowned and stuck the soaking Sunny in his shirt, trying to warm him up.

Just then, Nami burst out the doors to her cabin in her robe, looking slightly relieved when she saw Sunny's head poking out of Luffy's shirt. Zoro by now had an eye open in curiosity.

"Oh, there he is, he ran out of the room…is he okay?" Nami asked worriedly.

"I dunno, he's shaking a lot and kinda cold," Luffy said, giving Sunny a pet on the head.

Sanji walked over with a glass of fresh lemonade for Nami, who accepted it without really paying attention. "You didn't bathe him, right? He's a devil fruit user after all," Sanji pointed out, looking at the miserable pokemon.

Nami shook her head. "No, he wasn't submerged at all. It was a shower, which shouldn't affect a devil fruit user, and even if it did, he would have gone limp like Luffy, not run away," she looked toward Luffy for confirmation, who gave a hum of agreement, wrapping his arms around his cold crewmate.

"But he didn't act like that, he acted like he was being burned, or getting put out like…an actual fire getting wet."

"What are you saying, that he might not be a devil fruit user?" Sanji asked incredulously.

"Well, we'd need to find some sea prism stone to confirm it, but yes, what I'm thinking he isn't just an animal that's eaten a devil fruit, but he's tied with fire somehow without one. The Grand Line is full of mysteries and… he might be something none of us have seen before."

* * *

 **1\. I did a little fire-based research and the lowest, darkest red flames are about 950F (525C), considerably lower than a fully burning campfire, but then again, those take a long time to get that hot. Babyquils probably burn about 950. It's more a threat display than anything else.**

 **2\. Luffy's bounty… Because they arrived late because they stopped on Sunny's island, they missed Nezumi and although Luffy and crew scared off some Marines who had been stationed on Cocoyashi, they didn't directly meet Nezumi, who petitioned for Luffy to have a crazy high bounty for retribution. Sunny was given a bounty simply for being with Luffy while the Marine, er, journalist was taking their picture.**

 **3\. So imagine being stuck under a waterfall and the water is around you in every direction, coming so strong you can't breathe because the air is so full of water, and you can barely keep your eyes open, so you don't even know what direction to go in. I had that experience for roughly 5 seconds as a kid, and I imagined that even a shower would feel like that to Sunny, though natural rain would be much more tolerable, as seen.**

 **4\. Oda ruled that showers would be okay for devil fruit users as long as there wasn't too much standing water.**


	9. The Grand Line

**I am SUPER not doing the dumb Apis filler arc. It's boring. Stupid bald dragon, stupid sad ending, no THANKS.**

 **Also finally reached the point where I can't write this from memory, so I actually had to consult the manga and wiki to write this chapter lol.**

* * *

Nami told Luffy to put Sunny in the cabin after the shower debacle. Luffy took his smallest crewmember downstairs and fluffed up some blankets for him, wrapping the now calm, but tired pokemon like a burrito and setting him down in his usual spot. Luffy sat next to him against the wall and gave his head a pet. Sunny looked up at him, sensing the unusual mood of his captain.

"Thanks for watching out for Nami and Usopp, Sunny. I heard you defeated Undies," Luffy grinned. "That was a cool island! I want to go back someday when I'm King of the Pirates!"

Somehow, Sunny didn't think that was a good idea, so he just added a hesitant "Quilll…"

They both heard the door to the bunk open again and Zoro climbed down the steps. Zoro gave them a grim smile.

"Luffy," he began, standing in the middle of the dim room.

Luffy gave him a smile and his attention from where he was sitting. "Yes, Zoro?"

Zoro exhaled. "Back in Loguetown, when you were up on the scaffolding. You didn't know you would be saved."

"Nope. That was pretty lucky though!"

"Luffy, you almost died," Zoro said. Luffy frowned slightly but didn't interrupt his friend. "You have five people who depend on you now. So I'm sorry that I wasn't there to protect you like I should have. But I don't want to see you resign yourself to something like that ever again. Is that something the freest man alive would do?"

Luffy smiled softly and stood up, dusting off his shorts while he moved his straw hat to shade over his eyes. He stood there quietly for a moment, Sunny and Zoro's eyes glued to him.

When he looked up, he had a small, confident grin on his face. "You're right, Zoro. I won't give up, because all of us are going to reach the end of the Grand Line together."

Zoro's grim look crept into a genuine smile, it was the most pleased Sunny had ever seen Zoro. "That's all I needed to hear, Captain." And Zoro headed back up to the deck.

* * *

Nami pulled the book he had been carrying and put it on the table. "I got this on my island. It's a book of animals all over the world. I thought if it was anywhere, we'd find what Sunny is in here." She started flipping through pages, passing creatures like the hooooooorse, lapahns, giant tigers, bananagators, and the kung fu dugongs. "But there's nothing like him in here. No fire quills or anything. The closest thing I could find is this—an echidna." She pointed to the illustration of the mundane animal, a small animal related to the hedgehog that did, in fact, resemble Sunny. "But it doesn't have any strange abilities and it's small and not blue."

"If he's not a devil fruit user and he's not an animal from the Grand Line, what is he?" Sanji looked at her.

* * *

Nami walked over to Usopp after breakfast the next morning, giving him a little wave in greeting.

Usopp was tinkering with a few gears and bands that Nami didn't have a clue about.

"Morning, Nami," he greeted chipperly.

"Good morning, Usopp. I was hoping I could ask you something."

Usopp looked up in surprise. "Sure, what's up?"

Nami pulled out her bo staff, the thin wooden pole had been handy but with what they were up against now, well it wasn't enough. _She_ wasn't enough. "I was hoping you'd help me with an upgrade."

* * *

The Strawhat pirates had been on the water for three days when Nami declared that they were approaching their target. Sunny didn't quite understand what this mountain rising from the sea was, or why they needed to cross it to get to the Grand Line but he didn't exactly have the option to get clarification. They were all in the kitchen eating breakfast, Sunny in a yellow raincoat Nami had bought him in Loguetown, while she led the discussion on plans and defended her food from Luffy simultaneously.

Sunny had figured out that his food was more or less safe from the greedy rubber arms. Sanji had surprised him with an even hotter hot sauce and his meals were almost always had some. While Luffy could tolerate the heat, there were certainly easier plates to prey on without the pain. And if he tried anyway, Sunny would send his hand back with a nip.

Yes, Sunny was getting quite used to this strange life at sea. He'd been with the Strawhat pirates for two weeks now and he had lots of fun every day and he cared for his strange, two-legged friends too. The kitchen was full of laughter or hijinks and always plenty of delicious food and the two bounty posters were hanging up on the wall. Nami and Sanji didn't love it, but Sunny had to admit, seeing them there took away the fear of them.

Nami stabbed down at Luffy's hand with a fork and Luffy stopped and sweated slightly as he looked a the utensil buried firmly in the wood between two of his fingers. His arm retracted with a snap.

"According to Buggy's map, we're about a day from Reverse Mountain now, but even I am not sure what to expect, or _how_ the Merry is supposed to go over a mountain. So we need to be careful and work together for whatever comes. Zoro, I want you on the rigging, Usopp man the rudder, Sunny, you'll be look out on the sides and let me know if there are any rocks or obstacles. Sanji and Luffy will be doing whatever I need you to do."

"It would be my _honor,_ Nami-swannn!"

"Couldn't we just come from the south and not have to go up the mountain?" Zoro pointed out.

"No, we need to sail across the mystery mountain, it's the coolest thing to do!" Luffy insisted.

"Coolest? You want to do this dangerous thing because it's the coolest option?"

"No, it's the coolest thing _because_ it's the dangerous option," Sanji sighed an exhale of smoke.

Nami almost started into Luffy before she abruptly stopped, blinking slightly and getting out of her seat. "It should be storming now."

"Nami-swan, remember, Sunny sent the storm away half an hour ago," Sanji said sweetly.

Nami opened the door, peering out at the peaceful, sunny weather. "No, Sunny's ability seems only to divert the weather a little bit. We should still be hearing the thunder if we're getting close to Reverse Mountain. So it should be—oh no!" Nami ran outside, followed shortly by the rest of the crew.

"Oh no, oh no," she cried, looking out at the still waters, and the storm still raging in the distant horizon. Her blood ran cold. "We're on the Calm Belt!"

Suddenly, the water started to ripple and the boat began to shake.

"Eh? A waterquake?" Luffy exclaimed.

"No—it's—" Nami's words cut off as the crew felt the sensation of rising, and rising into the air as water fell in heavy sheets off of a black and white mountain rising out of the water, until two green eyes the size of the ship facing them as their caravel found herself beached on the nose of a giant sea king hundreds of feet in the air. A dozen other sea kings raised their monstrous heads out of the water, not even regarding them.

The crew was absolutely petrified in shock, even Luffy looked like he had just shit bricks. Sunny eyed the monstrous beings, then looked over toward the vivid blue expanse of the ocean, where he could see the curve of the world, and keeled over in a dead faint.

* * *

Sunny came to a minute later to the aftermath. Everyone lay astrew on the deck, Usopp foaming from the mouth and everyone heaped on top of each other. He was tucked under Sanji's arm and they were back in the storm.

Usopp popped up from his prone position, eyes wild, getting out the words he hadn't been able to get out earlier. "M-M-MONSTER!" He screeched, then looked around, where the rain and wind were buffeting them again, and Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy were picking themselves up, and Nami was crying holding onto the mast, but the waters around them were decidedly sea king-less.

"I knew they would run away after, after all, the giant goldfish I slew must have told tales to them about my great prow—prow—WHAT IS THAT?"

Ussop's eyes bulged out as he pointed a shaking figure into the fog in front of them. Nami squinted and held a hand up to see through the driving rain.

Sunny looked around from his position under Sanji's arm from the shelter of his little yellow raincoat. Nami's eyes had gone wide and he felt Sanji stiffen like a board.

"That…can't be…" Sanji breathed.

"We're headed straight towards it!" Usopp wailed.

"That means we're going the right way, Nami, what are we doing?" Zoro came up to the group and firmly pulled Nami out of her shock.

Sunny leaped out of Sanji's grip and bounded toward the bow of the ship when he saw it, larger than anything he'd ever seen. Larger, even, than this world's sea kings he'd just seen, rising from the water, a giant rock wall not fifty feet ahead of them.

"Everyone, stations!" Nami shouted. Sanji and Usopp struggled with the rudder as it bucked underneath them. They threw more force into it.

 _Craaaack._ Sanji and Usopp looked at each other as the rudder snapped in their hands. Sunny clung onto the railing with all his might, shielding himself from getting hit with the roaring water that was sweeping across the deck in waves.

"Everyone, stations!" He heard Nami cry out. "Luffy, the side!"

Luffy charged off the deck, holding his hat, and inflated like a balloon just before Merry's bow hit the side of the upwards raging river. Sanji and Usopp manned the rudder and Mery shot upwards through the water, clear of the sides of the mountain.

Luffy jumped to the other side and corrected their course again, huffing for breath as they finally reached the peak.

They felt like they could see the whole world from where they were, on their sides, the unsurmountable sides for the Red Line. Behind them the raging storms of the East Blue guarding Reverse Mountain. Even a thick spotted tail of a sea king slipping into the water. Before them was crystal clear water, sparkling in the noonday sun, not a cloud in sight, and clear fresh air.

It lasted only a moment before the bow dipped down again, and they were flying down the mountain with more speed than a caravel should ever achieve. Nami ran over and grabbed Sunny as the speed became too much for him to hold onto the slippery railing and braced them the best she could and the wind raced past them. She managed to open her eyes against the wind pressure and nearly screamed again. At the mouth of the river feeding into the Grand Line, was a large, dark shadow a hundred feet long.

"SEA KING!" She shouted as everyone rushed over again. "Stop the ship!"

"We can't!" Usopp and Sanji wailed.

 _WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIII_

Everyone froze as the ship continued to careen downward. "What was that?" Zoro said in an unusually small voice.

 _WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII_

They turned to the dark shadow, emerging from the water as Merry made her way off the mountain, straight towards the shadow.

"SOMEONE GET THE CANNON!"

Sunny suddenly felt waves of discontent, pain, and most of all loneliness as the great being showed it's small eyes, blue back, and ribbed white stomach. The mouth opened to show its teeth as it's giant mouth opened up, fifty feet wider than the Merry Merry had skimmed between the massive creature's jaws and now all it had to do was bite down and crush them unless they continued their descent into its stomach. Sunny ran and jumped on the figurehead, heart racing.

"IT HAS TEETH!"

"GET IT BEFORE IT SHUTS IT'S MOUTH!"

"I'LL PUNCH IT!"

 _WHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—_

 _"_ _Great Wailord—please stop!"_ Sunny called out as loud as he could. The loud wailing stopped. The Merry stopped, as the water in the Wailord's mouth stilled. Usopp, who had rolled the cannon out, stopped as the voice cut out. " _We didn't mean to disturb you. Please."_ Sunny continued from where he stood on Merry's figurehead, shaking as he spoke to the cavernous throat of a wailord many times larger than normal.

Slowly, the mouth withdrew from them, the suffocating hot air of the wailord's mouth gave way to fresh air as the pokemon submerged itself carefully removing itself from the ship. Only the tip of the crows nest was brushed by it's teeth.

Nami collapsed to the floor, as Luffy looked around in confusion. "Where'd he go? I wanted to fight him?"

Zoro looked at Sunny, who was still looking out to the water, suspiciously. "Sunny, did you _do_ something?"

Sunny didn't have a chance to attempt to give a response when the shadow reappeared again and slowly, carefully, a blue, shiny back started to grow in the water, until it was two hundred feet long and over a hundred feet wide, and rose up and up until small eyes the size of a dinner table appeared and fixed themselves on Sunny.

" _How do you know my name?"_ The wailord asked, then inched closer, until his flat head was nearly within reach of Sunny and he finally noticed the gnarled scars across the front of his head, each one several times larger than his own body. He heard gasps from behind him as well. The wailord didn't seem to need his answer. As he rumbled in shock, " _Cyndaquil? I haven't seen one of our kind in so long."_

Sunny felt almost a strange urge to reach out and touch the scarred, enormous pokemon. His mind was moving faster than the wind on Reverse Mountain " _I—I haven't seen anyone—I, did you get moved in the Big Displacement? Are there others?"_

Wailord rumbled. _"Slow down. I haven't spoken to any of our kind since I arrived…fifty years ago."_

 _"_ _Fifty years—?"_ Sunny couldn't believe it. The event in the forest in Johto that had transported everyone in a mile radius to this strange world had been just over four months ago. _"What—"_

"Sunny, are you talking to that whale?" Sanji's voice came from behind him and Sunny jumped, realizing this friends had gathered themselves and were standing behind him, watching the whale with cautious curiosity (except Luffy, who immediately jumped onto the figurehead with Sunny and introduced himself.)

"Sunny! Ask the whale what happened to his head," Luffy demanded.

Sunny looked at his captain, then back at the wailord. _"Great Wailord, what happened? It looks like a horrible injury."_

 _"_ _Not Wailord, I was given a name by my family, just like you did, my name is Laboon._

 _"_ _Your family? There's more of you?"_ Sunny asked with equal parts excitement and dread. He couldn't imagine a pod of wailord this large.

 _"_ _They are not like me, they're humans, not trainers, but pirates, like you have._ _They left a long time ago…and I'm waiting for my family to return,"_ Laboon answered.

 _Laboon's been here all this time waiting for his crew to return_ , Sunny finally understood. He shivered at the sheer magnitude of Laboon's faithfulness as well as the tragedy. Part of him wanted to ask the great whale where he thought they had gone, but he knew he shouldn't.

Instead, he said in a quiet voice, _"I'm not sure I would do the same."_

 _"_ _You're young, you won't know what you are capable of doing until it comes to it,"_ Laboon told him, eyes roving over to the Red Line with sorrow and frustration.

Sunny turned back to his friends, completely stumped on how to reiterate any information back to them. If he were back in his world, sometimes trainers who were in sync enough with their pokemon could understand them. This did not seem to be the case in this world, as _no one_ on the crew could tell the difference between when he said "c _y_ n" and "cyn" which was the simplest of distinctions for pokemon kind.

How could he possibly explain that he and the giant wailord behind him were from another world, sent here half a century apart?

Before he had a chance at explaining, Sunny heard a _whoosh_ to his right. He spun around, eyes opening in surprise.

 _WHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL_

Sunny watched as a large, barbed metal spike impacted into Laboon's side, catching three feet into his thick blue hide as a thick metal rope pulled taught. The Straw Hats, braced themselves against the guardrail as Laboon's four flippers impacted in the water, as he tried to pull away.

Another harpoon sailed through the air and impacted into Laboon's side a distance away.

"It's coming from that ship! Luffy!" Nami cried out, pointing to an approaching tug boat previously hidden by Laboon's body.

"Yosh!" Luffy secured his hat to his head and shot out an arm towards it, grabbing Sanji and Zoro as he went. "How dare they attack the mystery whale!" Even though he had wanted to punch the whale only minutes before.

The three were flung toward the tug boat, where three figures were aiming a third harpoon, stopping them in their tracks.

 _"_ _Wail—Laboon! Stop, let me help!"_ Sunny shouted desperately as Laboon continued to bellow in pain and his flippers thrashed in the water. " _Laboon!"_

I felt Nami come up to my side, hands up placatingly. "We want to help! We won't let them hurt you!"

Finally, Laboon stopped thrashing, sunk a dozen feet farther into the water, so his eyes were just above the surface and bumped his head against the figurehead of the Merry in compliance. Before Sunny could rethink his decision, he climbed onto the dense creature's nose, running up to the top of his head easily enough with the large scars. Nami followed behind him, bo staff held in one hand as Usopp put a foot up on the guard rail, leveling his slingshot toward the tug boat.

As Sunny reached the crest of Laboon's head, he saw a woman with a long teal ponytail skating across the harpoon line with a bladed fan and chain and spiked poles strapped to her back. Sunny immediately bristled fire when he saw her.

 _She was hunting Laboon._

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 **Please review! It inspires me to continue this frankly unprecedented rate of updating! Thanks for the 100 follows!**

 **Also,** WhiteyWolf26, **as always, very perceptive.** CrazyLittleTiger, **I believe this chapter answers your question ;)**


	10. A Wailord's Tale

**Hello All, please forgive this short chapter, I ended up having to split a longer chapter into 2 parts and this is where it broke. Next chapter to be up very soon. Also, I'm on vacation rn, and I wrote this ocean battle at the ocean, which was very cool.**

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Zoro deflected a cannon heading for the ship as they landed on the deck. Nami and Sunny charged across Laboon's slippery skin. Just as the blue-haired woman skated off the harpoon line. The fire-type's back burst into flames as he saw the injuries Laboon had.

Sunny charged at her, hitting her legs so she lost balance and fell on her stomach on Laboon. She gathered her wits a moment later, when she flipped around and parried Nami's bo staff with her bladed fan, and kicked her away. In a slick motion most impressive for a biped, she shifted her weight to her shoulders and was back on her feet in a flash. She lashed out at him, fury in her cold eyes, her fan extending on the chain. Had he not assumed it had a range, it would have pierced his legs. Instead, Sunny pulled back on his back paws in time and reached to grab the chain, channeling the heat as he held it in his mouth and paws.

When the woman tried to jerk it back, he skidded but held on with his full 18-pound might. Nami struck her in the back with her bo staff with a look of fierce determination. Sunny could tell even with what the girl was doing, Nami wasn't happy with this fight. But to him, it didn't matter. A human, like any pokemon, was defined by their actions—not gender, beauty, or age.

The blue-haired woman finally regained her composure and yanked back her fan, flinched, and adjusted the grip as she touched the hot metal near the fan. A small pit of disappointment grew in Sunny's stomach. His attack hadn't been anywhere near strong enough. But he knew now wasn't the time to lose himself in that.

Nami and Sunny positioned themselves on opposite sides of the girl, circling her slowly. They had to act fast, he could feel the minute vibrations of Laboon trying to prevent himself from flailing for their sake. Seeing the final loaded harpoon on the whaling vessel only steeled his resolve. Rage burned in his ears. The blue-haired poacher slashed out with her fan again, this time, it arched slightly, slicing the cyndaquil's cheek as he tried to move out of the way. In a second, it had returned to her hand in time for her use it to block Nami's strike again. She was strong.

On the tug boat, Luffy lifted his foot in the air and brought it down on the ship with his Axe attack, Sanji snuffed out the fuses on the lit cannons with a foot. Zoro sliced through two harpoon lines before the man onboard jumps in to stop him. The man was sorely out-matched and desperately looking for something to salvage the situation.

Nami and Sunny moved carefully, this woman was used to being dangerous and diving in for his regular attacks would not end well for him. He growled in frustration. _It would have to be a last resort_ , he decided.

Then he heard a low rumble below them.

" _It's from your stomach, the spot between your stomach and lungs, it's always been there."_

What was he saying? _He must be talking to me,_ Sunny realized, _I'm the only one that can understand._ For a moment, he thought Laboon was referring to his own bleeding wounds.

" _And it feels warm. It's your core, little cyndaquil."_

 _Oh,_ Sunny paused in his movement and the woman's eyes darted to him warily, preparing her bladed fan. He knew that feeling, that warm spot Laboon was talking about. Sunny pushed into it.

 _"_ _Your inner strength. For me, it is a torrent of water, for you—"_

Sunny fed the warmth there instead of forcing the heat to grow in his mouth. He let the force of energy rise, warming his lungs, and release a ball of fire the size of his head that impacted with the girl, scorching her robes and leaving soot on her hands. She had tried to shield herself with her fan, and it combusted in flames, leaving nothing but a charred metal skeleton as it had taken the brunt of the attack. She fan fell out of her hand, a look of terror on her face.

Sunny could barely believe it himself, that was an ember, he just knew it. And under the sunny weather and the chaos, and Laboon's help, it had exploded forth.

Just as she was about to run, there was a splintering crack and the boat shifted in the water in protest. Luffy.

" _Tell your crew to get off the ship now."_

Sunny nearly jumped in surprise.

 _"_ _Off the boat?"_ Sunny clarified, whipping around to look toward it where his friends were fighting. _What was Laboon planning? Nothing the crew wanted to be caught up in._ He looked toward Nami and frantically gestured to the armored tug boat, miming moving them over to the Merry, Laboon, and stomping on his back.

Suffice to say, Nami fixed her comrade a confused look, her bo staff dropping slightly in her hands. The blue-haired woman took the opportunity to jump back onto the remaining uncut harpoon line and head back to her ship, ignorant of the warning.

Sunny repeated the actions insistently before giving up and shouting as loud as he could toward the boat. He was quiet usually. Cyndaquil by nature are small and hidden. He hadn't ever tried to be loud, it just wasn't done.

Despite that, when he yelled they heard him, and stopped fighting to look at him. Sunny gestured desperately to the Merry as he felt Laboon begin to shift beneath him. The poachers had made a mistake—they underestimated a pokemon. Not only a pokemon, but one deeply respected by every one of pokemonkind that walked or burrowed through the earth, swam the vast waters, or swarmed the endless skies. They had angered a giant. There would be hell to pay.

Nami saw the fear in Sunny's expression and took a guess. "Luffy, Sanji, Zoro—get back to the ship!"

Luffy immediately wrapped an arm around his crewmates and slung them onto the Merry. The woman, who had just reached her boat, and her partner, looking quite beaten up, froze and watched as Laboon came to face them, the still-attached harpoon spinning their boat.

Nami scooped Sunny up and jumped off Laboon's nose as he passed their ship. Usopp blinked and asked, "Wait, what's supposed to happen?"

Laboon moaned and floated further up to the surface with the ease of the lighter-than-water buoyancy of his body. He opened his massive mouth slowly, water pouring off and from in between his teeth. Sunny couldn't suppress a shiver, lost in Nami's much more apparent shake.

 _WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIILLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORDDDDDD_

A jet of water over twice as wide as Merry's mast exploded from Laboon's gaping mouth. The poachers bailed out of the ship seconds before what could only be a massive hydro pump slammed into the side of the ship, cratering it. The water shot in every direction, bouncing off the buckling metal and wood; tearing apart the guardrails, cannons, flag, shooting into the water like shrapnel. The tug buckled, taking in seawater at every angle and beginning to sink under the water.

In the wreckage, Sunny could make out two shapes tearing toward the shore. The silence was broken, predictably, by Luffy.

"WHOA! I DIDN'T KNOW WHALES COULD DO THAT! WAY TO GO!"

Sunny braced as the waves rocked their ship. " _Laboon, are you okay?"_

He hummed as the tug started to disappear under waves, then looked at the smaller pokemon with a beady eye. " _I won't let anyone get in the way of my dream-I can't on my pride as a Rumbar Pirate!"_

He breathed a sigh of relief. The large water pokemon was unbelievable in a way he could only hope to achieve someday.

Laboon shot the Straw Hats a wide smile. Then he twitched, twice, three times.

Sanji seemed keyed in too and looked to me for answers.

"You there! What are you doing to Laboon?" The voice was not Laboon, it was human. We all looked around, searching for the voice.

" _Laboon?"_ Sunny hazarded.

"Up here!" The voice was coming from on top of Laboon, but how was that possible when Nami and he had just been up there? A tall, gray-haired man stepped into view on Laboon's head. He was carrying three giant, bloody harpoons over his shoulder as easily as he would a plank of wood. Oh. And he also had a little flower growing on the top of his head.

"You'll regret doing this to Laboon!" He yelled, leveling a finger at the Straw Hats.

"We didn't hurt Laboon, poachers did!" Sunny yelled out, knowing it would do no good. Usopp and Nami began to protest too, as Zoro and Sanji assumed defensive stances. Then Laboon spoke in his bellow.

 _"_ _Crocus, they helped me,"_ Laboon's eyes rose up to look at the old man.

To Sunny's shock, the man Crocus relaxed slightly and dropped the harpoons into the water with a salvo of _splooshes._ Then he jumped into the ship. _Had he-?_ Sunny jumped down from Nami's shoulder and approached him.

He looked oddly comfortable on a stranger's pirate ship.

 _"_ _You can understand us?"_

His eyebrows rise in interest. "You're like him, aren't you? So different and stronger and smarter than any animal should be," the intelligent sparkle in his eyes suddenly went blank, "that said, I have no idea what you're saying."

Sunny sunk to the floor like all his hopes of communicating with the crew, exhaling a small tongue of fire. Crocus looked interested again.

"I don't really understand what's happening, why do you have a flower on your head?" Luffy asked, digging a finger into his nose.

" _That's_ what tripped you up?" Sanji yelled.

Crocus laughed out loud. "Why don't we sit down and talk? I have a feeling we're going to have plenty to discuss."

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 **While I was editing the Laboon located fight scene I could not stop thinking about that one Smash Bros Melee level where you had to fight on top of massive floating pokemon lol maybe it was in my subconscious this whole time**

 **Also, I'm trying to decide on movies. I do have one movie I'm planning on doing but I want feedback on if/which movies I should do bc if 3-4 people have strong opinions on a movie, it's probably a movie I should be doing. LMK. Thanks again, and please review!**


	11. A Natural Conclusion

**Oh boy, last chapter I was so preoccupied with getting the chapter out I forgot to thank you all for getting Sunny to 50+ reviews and 100+ follows and faves! And I'm especially you all are loving Laboon!**

 **Also, you all read my mind, movie 6 is the one I'm definitely doing, though I'm open to others.**

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The Strawhat Pirates and Crocus were seated by a campfire at the red sand shore eating a giant pig, Laboon watching over them from further in the water. Crocus explained that the poachers, Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday, had been around for more than a week trying to catch Laboon to feed their city. Sunny found he had to fight to stay calm and not to try and find them to teach them a lesson at the mention of that. Humans hunting pokemon was an inexcusable to him, especially when there were so few of them in this world. Crocus had foiled their every attempt at hunting his friend, though. And Sunny had a feeling that after this time, they'd be more than turned off by the idea of trying again.

As the fire shrew climbed off the log next to Luffy and put his back against the campfire with a comfortable sigh, Crocus' shrewd eye switched to him.

Sanji leaned forward, catching the look the old man had and lit his cigarette on the fire.

"You seemed to know something about Sunny back on the ship, can you tell us what?"

Crocus smiled lightly. "Well, it's just a theory, but if I had to guess, these two," he gestured to Laboon and Sunny, "are related."

"What?" Nearly everyone shrieked. Luffy's eyes bugged out of his head. Sunny watched them cooly as they looked at him, a tiny fire mouse, and him, a massive water whale, then gave Crocus a nod of confirmation.

Crocus waved a hand at the crew and clarified, "Not familially, but in the way that this is an animal," he pointed down at the leg of pork he was eating, "and you are human," the crew, "and they are neither," he pointed to Laboon and Sunny. He gave him a small smile, relieved that at least this could be communicated.

Nami exchanged a startled look with Sanji, remembering viscerally her own realization of Sunny's strange nature while she was in Arlong's tower. Sanji remembered several times he'd seen an almost-human like look in their small crewmate. Zoro quirked an eyebrow and Luffy leaned forward on the log. "Whaaat? How do you know?"

"I've known Laboon for a long time now, after fifty years, I can understand him pretty well."

Luffy had stars in his eyes. If he thought it was so cool, maybe they should put a little more effort into learning my language.

"Unfortunately, Sunny speaks entirely in _his_ species name, and if there are others, they probably the same. But Laboon and Sunny don't seem to have a problem understanding each other, or us, so we're the ones behind," Crocus finished, smiling warmly at the whale, who was breaching the surface again, a hundred feet away.

 _WAAAAIII._

"They have abilities I've never seen in animals, too. When Laboon was a tenth his size, he was already creating whirlpools big enough to swallow a ship," Crocus recalled fondly. "My own ship is laying at the bottom of the sea right now, too."

"But wait," Sanji said, holding up a hand, "if they're as strong as you say, why didn't Laboon finish them off days ago and why does he have all those massive scars?"

Sunny looked toward Laboon, blue skin outlined by moonlight. A spurt of water streamed from his blowhole like a huff.

"Laboon is very peaceful, there's only one thing he wants to destroy." Crocus thumbed toward the mountainous Red Line from where ti rose from the ocean. In the bright moonlight, it was a shock they didn't see it earlier.

Veining through the craggy red rock were massive cave-like fissures and fifty-foot craters along the wall as far as they could see. What had looked like red water underneath was more likely broken rocks and red sediment, the water now too shallow for the massive whale to approach. Sunny backed up, flinched back as he stepped directly onto a burning log, the horror of the situation becoming apparent. _His own progress was stopping him, wasn't it?_ He was strong enough he could do it, but every time he made progress, he had to move further along the Line. Sunny had thought that the ideal pokemon for a pirate crew would be a water-type but at every turn, Laboon had been too big or too strong. A prickle of anxiety settled over Sunny. It could have been _him_ who couldn't have come on the journey. There were a hundred pokemon who wouldn't fit or be able to live on a ship. Magmar, Onix, Snorlax, Magikarp, Diglett, the list went on and on.

If only Laboon had a trainer, if he had a pokeball, there would never have been a mobility issue and he would never have been left behind.

I was knocked out of my reverie when Nami gave a long pat on my head. They were talking about Laboon's pirate crew now.

Zoro was staring at the wailord. "Fifty years and he doesn't accept that they're dead?"

Luffy's hands clenched at this. From where Sunny was on the ground, he could see him, under the shade of his hat. In the campfire, his eyes reflected their chaos.

"Do you want to go back to your old home?" Crocus asked.

Sunny shook his head.

"Neither does Laboon, he just wants someone to come back."

Laboon glided through the water so smoothly, they nearly didn't hear him until he was lined up with the Red Line. I froze. He was going to try breaking through again in his condition?

Luffy jumped to action, bounding onto the Merry and to our shock, ripping Merry's mast off and charging toward the approaching Laboon. Laboon didn't notice him until they were fifty feet away from each other, Laboon's small black eyes widening.

"LAAAAABBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNN!" Luffy wound up and slammed into Laboon's head, and yells of shock and disbelief erupted from everyone but Zoro.

The force stopped Laboon enough that he only slammed into the side with the volume of a thunderclap.

After a deep breath, "FIGHT MEEEEE!"

The surprise on the whales' face morphed into determination. If there was one piece of advice his mother would have told him, had she thought of it, it would be: do not, under any circumstances, provoke and fight a four hundred foot wailord. Nevertheless, Luffy did.

Sunny's head spun with all the attacks he could imagine Wailord could use to wipe Luffy out. All it would take is one well-aimed water attack…

Luffy dropped the mast and threw a gum gum bazooka at Laboon's face. Laboon let out a wail and all of a sudden, the cracked rocks started skittering around them.

Sunny called out to Luffy just a second before the rocks abruptly fought gravity, shooting towards the rubber captain. Luffy's eyes shifted to focus on the rocks at the moment before they hit, his weight shifting to move when two large rocks on either side crushing him between the rocks.

The crew all tensed as the rocks fell into the crashing water. Even Laboon seemed taken aback and opened his mouth with a _"Bwaaaaa?"_

"Shishishishi," Luffy's cheerful voice came from the side of the Red Line where he was dangling from a small hand hold, chunks of rocks in his hair. "You'll have to do better than that to crush me!" He backflipped Then he threw his arm back, twisting it as he went in a move Sunny had never seen from him before. He jerked his body forward, bringing his stretching arm to a stop, and propelling his spinning fist forward

"GUM GUM RIFLE!" he yelled. "LABOON, I'M YOUR RIVAL NOW, SO WAIT FOR ME TO CONQUER THE GRAND LINE!"

The attack was strong enough I could see Laboon's eyes roll back for a moment. Luffy landed on Laboon's head and continued. "I'm going to become King of the Pirates and then we'll come back, I promise."

Laboon's eyes watered and he started to moan.

 _"_ _Okay, Strawhat, you won, I'll wait. But when you see my crew, who are still out there, help them to the end of the Grand Line—promise!"_

As Sunny stood there watching the exchange between his captain, who was crossing his arms and laughing, and the wailord, the latter shifted an eye towards the smaller pokemon. He understood, Sunny would see to it, but he had a strange feeling Luffy had understood too, somehow.

Luffy grabbed paints and started painting over Laboon's scars and wounds while the rest of the crew worried about the broken mast. Luckily, Usopp declared he could patch it up and started to frantically work, shouting at Luffy while he worked for hurting Kaya's ship.

Sunny took a nap like Zoro attempted to do before getting roped in to help. A lot had happened in one day for the small pokemon.

Eventually, Luffy finished a lopsided version of their Jolly Roger on Laboon's head, proclaiming he couldn't hit his head against the Line or the paint would smudge. And the rest of the crew had fashioned a metal plate to keep the mast aloft with Usopp proclaiming it "sturdier than ever."

It wasn't much longer after that that the crew decided it was time to sleep, and all but Zoro, on watch, and Sunny went down to the cabins.

Sunny picked his way across the red beach, finding an outcropping of rocks he could stand on. He sat there, watching the stars flicker in one by one, knocking small pebbles into the choppy ocean waves.

After a minute, Sunny saw Laboon's shape appear in the distance, spraying up water and submerging again. Sunny waited, looking for the massive shape, and eventually, he saw the large shape appear again in the much shallower water.

Laboon looked at him, the crew's Jolly Roger painted proudly on his forehead.

 _"_ _Sunny,"_ Laboon greeted warmly. It was as if Laboon could sense how much was running through his brain, and he was content to sit with him in silence to sort them.

For a moment, Sunny thought about what it would be like to stay with Crocus, and help him protect Laboon. To be around another pokemon, who understand each other almost empathically sometimes. But no, Sunny had a cause, Sunny had a _crew._ A sleuth he'd shared laughter and tears with, he foolish to even consider leaving their side.

But what about Laboon, who was left behind by his sleuth?

Sunny was quiet a long moment before speaking up to the whale, to one of his massive eyes only a dozen feet away from him. "That pirate you mentioned, what was his name?"

"His name is Brook."

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The next day, Sunny was one of the last to rise, Crocus joined them for breakfast while Laboon hunted, or swallowed schools of fish and krill. After Laboon got back, Sunny busied himself by asking tons of questions about his home. He too remembered falling through a glowing circle to a world of water.

He thought of home, the place he hadn't thought of often in the past few weeks. _I'm not even from this world,_ he reminded himself, wandering a distance up the beach and into the nearby grasses in thought. As a pirate, any time on land had to be appreciated, and this clearing wasn't too different from the one he'd grown up in…

Sunny distracted himself from the poignant trail of thoughts when he found a pretty lilac to eat. Just as he'd finished his treat, his body went rigid as he placed the tremors underfoot to be something moving toward him. He lurched, spinning towards the possible threat, as not one creature, but two humans in the opposite direction from the ship approached.

The blue hair was unmistakable. It was Ms. Wednesday and Mr. 9, now standing only twenty feet from Sunny.

Sunny's head spun with half-framed plans. Had Ms. Wednesday repaired her fan yet? Even without it, he knew he couldn't take on both of them by himself, and he was too far to call out. And what did Mr. 9 have up his sleeve? Sunny hadn't seen him fight. They were clearly both hurt but not badly.

Ms. Wednesday held up her empty hands, sweating slightly and looked tense. She had a bandage on her burned hand.

"Stop, shhh, don't attack, it's okay," Ms. Wednesday took a step closer to Sunny, then another. Sunny rescued the distance between them by taking several steps back, only stopping when his back end hit a thick tree.

"Quuuu," Sunny warned, flame igniting in warning."

Ms. Wednesday took another step forward and crouched, putting her hand out. "See? I'm not going to hurt you, sorry, come here, it's okay."

The cyndaquil took a moment to balk. _Is she trying to befriend me or threaten me?_ He couldn't tell. The day before she had been all cold fury and focus and now she spoke in a soft voice and was trying to entice him to go over there _as if he could trust her._

Sunny growled in response as she hadn't picked up on his previous, more subtle warning. _She better get to her point. I'm not letting my guard down._

She was more appropriately cautious now. "I need to talk to your friends. Will you take us to them?"

A smile crossed Sunny's face. So he wouldn't have to sit here and deal with her doomed attempts at taming him without a pokeball. He gave her a nod, kept distance between them, and went straight for Zoro.

He was sleeping against the log of the now-expired campfire after his watch the previous night. Sunny gave him a firm headbutt to the side and Zoro woke up, instantly alert.

"Eh? Sunny?" The swordsman looked at his crewmate in annoyed confusion.

"Cynaquiiil," Sunny pointed his nose to the clearing behind him. Zoro was up and drawing his swords in a second. _We have visitors, Zoro._

"What the hell? They're back?" Zoro demanded. Sunny just shrugged, he wasn't feeling threatened of them now that he was back with Zoro.

As it turned out, because their ship was destroyed, they wanted a ride to the next island. Luffy had agreed, loudly proclaiming them their 'prisoners,' much to their terror.

Sanji, however, fawned over Ms. Wednesday with no discrimination-much to the annoyance of Nami and Zoro-and went to cook the poachers something in the kitchen.

Crocus approached Nami and Zoro with something in his hand, "Compasses don't work on the Grand Line, this is a Log Pose. It will get you to the next island on the Line, then will need time to set—a different amount of time depending on the island's magnetic field—before it can lead you to the next." He handed it to Nami. Then he hesitated for a moment, looking at Sunny.

"Take care of that one, he's sure to attract attention on the Grand Line. Treat him well and you'll see what amazing things he can do." Crocus gave Sunny a knowing smile and Sunny had to wonder what he had seen.

"Of course!" Nami squealed, holding the Log Pose, "I'll take care of them both!"

Soon after, Crocus waved them goodbye from the red sand beach, the sun making the water shimmer. "Look!" Usopp cried, pointing into the water.

Laboon's body was racing along just under the surface of the water, leaving a dark blue shadow and a stream of churning water along the surface. The crew ran to the side of the ship. Sunny stuck his head through the guardrail, holding onto one side. Laboon's head breached upwards a few hundred feet away as if he were swallowing the sky.

He wailing and released a massive hydro pump into the air, propelling a hundred feet in the air before dispersing like a fountain.

Sunny gasped as he marveled at the mist pluming in the air.

Nami cried out too, "A rainbow!" In the falling mist, in the clear and sunny day, a large shimmering rainbow spread out before them, a welcome gate into the new world. Laboon grinned at the Merry beneath it.

" _GOOOOOOOOOOOOODD LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCKKKKKKKK!"_

And the Strawhats finished their first adventure on the marvelous Grand Line.

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 **Next chapter is going to be an intermission of the story for Shinx's story due to popular demand! So get ready for a triple length chapter! Then after, we're back to Sunny :)**

 **I LOVE REVIEWS!**


	12. SHINX-TERMISSION

**Here it is! All I had with Shinx! It's similar in most parts as I only rewrote as needed for Sunny, but I do think the differences are interesting, especially their goals and personality.**

 **Anyway, I saw someone mention that it might be intermission through the story, but this will just be a one-off, with everything I wrote for this story. If I do write a concurrent story, it would be for Riolu, as I've had an interesting plot bouncing around in my head for a couple weeks!**

 **So enjoy and let me know what you think :)**

* * *

It was another day like any other for me as I paced the island, looking for food. There wasn't much for me to do except look for berries or roots or slow mice that inhabited it. There was a small town that functioned as a trading post, but I did a very good job staying away from humans unless it was scavenging during night-time and going through trash bags. I was padding down the beach looking for crabs to zap when I caught scent of a tantalizing smell. I trotted down the beach until I caught sight of a brightly colored ship with a ram's head bow. Meat, I smelled meat. I made my way over to the boat, used my teeth to shimmy up the rope ladder and looked around, the deck was empty and after straining my ears, I confirmed that there wasn't any sound coming from the ship, not even the creak of wood, this boat must be very new! It was a very big ship and with my diminutive stature, it was quite intimidating but I made my way toward the smell, nudging a door open to what looked decently sized kitchen and table. Just past there, I could smell the sweet fragrance of apples and oranges, smoked fish, biscuits, and salted meat. I found my way toward a burlap bag, which I quickly gnawed through to get to the dried jerky. Despite my small size, I made short work of about 20% of the bag before my large round ears caught several footsteps on the deck. I hadn't even realized people had arrived. I bit back a shriek of shock and buried myself into the bag. I'd just have to hide until they left the deck again, then I'd grab an apple and get on my merry way.

It didn't work the way I had hoped, however, because thirty minutes later, they were still on the deck, being noisier than ever. The harsh smell of jerky was starting to give me a headache but I stayed hidden.

I must have dozed off slightly at some point because I woke suddenly when soft footsteps came into the storage room. I tensed, from the hole in the bag, a woman with orange hair came in carrying a box of freshly picked limes. I held my breath as she passed. Maybe sneaking in here hadn't been the best idea I had ever had. She set them down and headed back to the door, and I thought I'd be home free, but when she walked past my jerky bag, she stopped in surprise, examining the large hole.

"Huh?" She stopped in front of me. "What hap—AHHHHHH!" She jumped back in surprise as I jumped out of the bag, only fueling my panic as I looked for a direction to escape in the dimly lit room. "A rat!"

My forelegs tensed in panic at the wailing human in front of me, the electricity in my body making my fur flash with yellow light—a perfected Shinx escape tactic, stun predators and make your escape! I took off between her legs and up the stairs in a flash, making my way back on deck.

"Catch that blue thing!" The girl screeched. On deck I realized there were three more startled humans, as I hurtled up, looking for somewhere to go.

"I got it!" Said one, running towards me, I sharply turned, making to jump off the deck but when I jumped onto the railing, I stopped dead when I realized that we were in the middle of the ocean. There wasn't even land in sight! When the tan human took advantage of my distraction and grabbed me, I yelped again, fighting the rising panic, contracted the strong muscles in my front legs and shocked him. He dropped me as the electricity coursed through him and he fell on his butt. If only I could find a new place to hide, maybe they would give up and—yet another pair of hands caught me, but this time, the calloused hands were ready for the shock and held me tighter. When I finally gave up with the bolt of electricity, I was being held firmly by the nape of my neck by a strong green-haired man with curious yet terrifying eyes. I hung there, shivering in his grip. They caught me, now they were gonna cook me up or throw me overboard! No matter how hungry I was, I should have known not to try to steal from a ship!

The orange haired girl had come out on the deck and now the others were coming around too. They were all so giant.

"What is this thing?" The green-haired man said.

Orange came up to me with a hand thoughtfully under her chin. "It was in the storage room so I thought it was a rat, but it actually looks like a weird blue cat."

"Hey Zoro, can we eat it?" The black-haired boy asked, looking bored now that the chase was done. My shaking got a little worse. I was too young to die, I was only six months old and I still had someone to find!

"Actually it's kind of cute, in a strange way…" Orange trailed off. On the ground, the top of my head would probably reach Green's knee; I was light and dark blue with yellow bands and yellow eyes, a red nose, and a star-tipped tail.

Orange extended a hand toward me and I showed my teeth and batted a paw in her direction. The man holding me tightened his grip on my scruff, effectively discouraging me from my threat display.

"Shiiii," I protested weakly.

Long nose, who I shocked before, spoke up too, "It looked scared, I think it may have stowed away, not realizing we were going to sail away."

So he wasn't as dumb as he looked, I nodded eagerly before going back to being terrified.

"Huh? You can understand us?" Orange asked.

"Shinx!" _Yes! Don't eat me!_

"How cool!" Black said, his eyes lighting up so they looked like mine. "And Nami, it shot electricity everywhere too!"  
The girl, Nami, raised an eyebrow skeptically at Black, then crouched down a little. "You didn't mean to jump abroad, huh? I bet you were just looking for food and got stuck, right?"

I nodded again, and the man holding me exhaled a sigh and to my surprise, set me down. I wanted to go hide, but I had nowhere to hide and had no doubt they could catch me again if they wanted to.

"Do you live on that island back there?" Black said. I nodded again. I flinched as his eyes hardened and his fist clenched slightly. "And we took you from your home."

I was hesitant because while I did live on the island, it wasn't really home to me, I didn't know anyone well on that island anymore. He seemed to understand my resistance because after a moment he gave me a nod and stuck a straw hat on his head. "Alright then, it's settled! We won't eat you and we'll bring you to another island! What's your name?"

"Shinx?" I hadn't been called anything in a long time so I just looked up at him.

"Ah, so your name is Shinx," Black confirmed.

"Uh, Luffy, I think that's all it can say, I don't know if it's its name." Long nose said.

"Well, my name's Luffy and this is Zoro, Usopp, and Nami. We're the Strawhat Pirates. Now that that's settled, let's eat!"

Ten minutes later, the humans were sitting at the table in the kitchen eating smoked fish. Long nose—Usopp—had given me a small fish which I was gnawing on by the door. They were quick to laugh, or threaten as Nami did when Luffy put his hands too close to her food, and soon they were done. Zoro looked back at me, again making me feel uncomfortable under his glare. Then, I realized that the conversation had moved on to talking about me again. I put more effort into looking busy while my ears twitched as I listened in.

"—actually not uncommon for sailors, or pirates, to have a cat on board because they catch vermin and are bring sailors good luck," Nami was saying.

"It's huge, and blue, and it shocked me, it's no cat," hissed Usopp.

"It's a mystery cat!" Luffy claimed.

"I'm estimating we're about five days from the next island, so try not to get beat up by the kitten too much before then, alright Usopp?" Nami asked sweetly, while Usopp started to sweat.

"Shihihihi!"

After that, it was getting late, and Zoro stayed to clean up the dishes, Luffy watched the sunset from the bow, Nami left downstairs somewhere and Usopp climbed up to the Crow's Nest for the night shift.

I hesitated, not sure what to do. I would have retreated back into the storage room but someone had fully shut the door so I couldn't slide in. I didn't want to spend the night out in the open and it was getting kind of chilly. As I wallowed, Luffy walked by me. "Come on, blue cat thing. Time to go to sleep," he said if it were the most natural thing in the world. Having no other options, I reluctantly followed the boy down the hatch, which brought us to a decent sized room with five hammocks, that smelled vaguely of snacks and old socks. Luffy hummed thoughtfully as he looked around for something. Finally, he decided to pull out a shirt, that looked a lot like the shirt he was currently wearing, folded it once and set on the ground near his hammock. "Here, kitty," he said, picking me up and placing me on the shirt, "stay, go to sleep."

I stared at him incredulously for several minutes as he changed into a nightie, yawned loudly and climbed into his hammock and instantly started snoring. I laid down and gradually let my defenses lower enough for sleep, though I was alert and woke up many times; when Zoro came in sweaty holding three long sticks and when Usopp came in much later in the night.

* * *

The next day, after Nami brought a piece of fish and water out to the deck for me, my initial trepidation was beginning to wear off. I think I could trust Luffy and his friends to drop me off safely at the next island. Around midday, Luffy was groaning about being bored and started playing with anything he saw, the small machine Usopp was messing with, a calcified piece of bread, finally a big bouncy ball, which rolled down the deck past me. My ears perked up immediately. As my eyes carefully tracked it, it hit the stairs and started bouncing down and I couldn't help myself anymore—I charged after it, pouncing as it started to lose speed, tumbling over a few times.

Luffy whooped and clapped, "Nice catch, kitty!" We made a game of throwing the ball and catching it until I got tired and Luffy bored and I found a railing not overlooking the water to take a nap on. That day, I occupied myself with watching Usopp tinker. Nami gave me a gentle pat on the head as she walked by the make dinner and I was given a chunk of salted meat and again slept on Luffy's shirt.

* * *

The next day, Nami brought a small handheld mirror out with her and showed it to me, and I saw my own reflection just like water! Then she angled it so it reflected the deck and to my surprise, a bright spot of light started to move along the deck. I slammed my paw into it, once, and then again, but I couldn't catch it. Then it starting moving all over deck, I started to run after it, charging and tumbling all over, nearly knocking a chair over to catch it, but there was nothing to grab. Then Nami started to make a strange noise like a purr until she was laughing softly at me as she finally let me catch it. After digging in place for a few seconds, I realized the light was intangible, even for me, which was sad because I was looking forward to an electric snack and I had imagined it being a Joltik.

Zorro also was a demon with his sticks—swords that day, training until sweat poured into his eyes. I when I saw Usopp enter the kitchen near dinnertime, I trailed behind.

"Hey, cat. Keeping me company?" Usopp asked with a friendly smile, pulling out some of the lemons and salted meat. "I'm trying something new today, I'm hoping the sourness might cover the saltiness of the meat and tenderize it, but it's a bit of a guessing game." Usopp continued on, streaming his consciousness, not entirely aimed toward me, but just content to keep talking. "…And there was one time I had an entire village to feed and only a single haunch of boar meat and a pocketful of dried corn and I…" the more I listened to his story, the more entranced I was! Although he was still pretty young, Usopp had some incredible adventures! Wrapped up into his story, he kept slipping me pieces of meat as I listened with rapt attention. "Oh, cat, you should have seen the viking longship I christened after that!"

The others were called in for dinner and though some of the others said the meat was too sour, I love sour foods and enjoyed it. Just as we were about done eating, my ears perked up as I felt my fur stand on end and a flash of yellow involuntarily coursed through my fur.

"Kitty lit up again!" Luffy said, mouth full of food.

"What is it?" Usopp asked.

Nami frowned, hand to her hair, where a couple strands were floating from the static in the air. "Storm!"

We all spilled outside and within moments, the pirates were pulling the rigging, righting the wheel and preparing for the storm. I was a little unsure what to do against the wind, which threatened to push me back and forth across the deck, but I did have something all Shinx—no, electric pokemon with enough wherewithal instinctually played with. It was a little like connect-the-dots but with much more danger involved as well as being exhausting, but I knew that encroaching lightning should not hit the mast. I screwed up my eyes and began to anticipate and trace the lightning bolts down to the water with my tail. I tensed my front legs, which generated electricity, shooting bolts to guide the lightning strikes. Most lightning storms were gentle, they simply had to be guided, like a reed in the wind, even if it was difficult and took concentration, I only need to direct them. Slowly, I lured the lightning away from the ship. This lightning was very gentle and ready to leave, I watched it go gratefully, huffing from the effort.

When I finally shook myself out of it, the crew was staring at me.

"You just _moved_ that storm." Nami pointed out dumbfounded. "We were supposed to get another hour of rain." She pointed up and through the gentle drizzle, the setting sun was already starting to peak out.

"Shishishi! That cat sure is useful!"

That night, Nami warned us of a cold snap, but I had only known one climate my whole life, and apparently, by now we had sailed almost two hundred miles from my island. I lay in Luffy's shirt, listening to the quiet breathing of Zoro and Usopp and the loud snoring of Luffy but about half an hour after we turned in, I woke up shivering harshly. It was freezing, even after I nudged my way under the shirt. I began to look around for warmth. I didn't want to rely on them but there would be no warm place on the ship. Luffy suddenly snorted loudly and tossed in his sleep. I would get smushed with him! I leapt onto a drawer and landed on Zoro's chest. He stiffened and one eye opened as he stared critically down at me. I shivered in response and looked at him with my saddest, widest eyes, mellowing down my natural smile. He growled slightly, but pushed me to his feet under the blanket and muttered. "One night only, cat."

That was good enough for me, I squirmed between his lower legs under the blanket and gave a big yawn and within moments, I was warm again.

For the first time in weeks, I felt a rumble through my chest and throat, a comforting feeling reminding me of my mother, as I pressed against Zoro's leg with a deep purr. As I fell asleep, I thought about the stories my mother used to tell me about my great-great grandfather and how he left long ago, and was still out there somewhere.

'If you could cross the deep waters, I know you could find him, Blue. And what stories he would tell you.'

Mother's voice was rumbly, as if she was always purring, her stark red eyes bright, deepened the perpetual smile on my face.

* * *

The next few days, things started to change slightly. Once, when I was lounging in the sun after a particularly intense game of chase Luffy where we took turns tearing after each other, wreaking havoc until Zoro had lost patience and yelled at us, Nami brought me a sliced apple. I got admonished by Luffy for trying to shimmy up the mast and getting scared stiff ten feet up, only to be rocketed up with him to the crow's nest moments later.

The next day, Usopp put a bowl of fresh water out on the deck for me and checked to make sure it was filled up later. I got in trouble with Zoro for trying to gnaw on the one of his sword's sheathes and I thought he might be really mad at me, but after lunch, he threw me a big bone for my growing teeth to whittle down. Luffy and I listened to another of Usopp's stories. Late afternoon, I got to work on the bone as Zoro napped. But the biggest thing, which made me look back at all the little differences was dinner on the fourth day. I waited on the floor for the designated cook of the day to throw me some scraps but instead, Luffy scooped me up and set me on the table.

"The cat's eating with us from here out!" Luffy declared with a grin on his face. Usopp, who was on kitchen duty passed a plate over with cut up fruit and smoked trout and for the first time, over three hundred miles from home, I ate with the crew.

"We have rations for about another week and a half if we're careful, but with this unexpected detour, I think we need to be more careful from now on with our food supplies. It'll be another four days until we can make it to an inhabited island."

"You hear that, kitty? We'll have you on a fun island in a few days, so hang in there!" Luffy said with a grin, patting my head. I return the smile.

"About that, I really think even if it's temporary, we should call him something." Nami pointed out. That piqued my attention.

"No way," Zoro shook his head. "You name something, you get attached. I don't want you crying in a couple of days because you don't want to give him up."

"Look at him, he's eating on the table with us, Luffy's _already_ attached." She pointed out. I looked over at Luffy in surprise. He was humming himself, still shoveling food into his mouth, swinging his legs like a kid. He was getting attached to me? We did have some really fun times the last couple days…especially when he'd slow down enough for me to catch him during our tag games, or wrestle on the floor trying to bite his nose as he giggled. Nami clapped her hands. "So, a name!"

Usopp looked at me, a pensive look on his features. "A name… how about Zephyr? Like the wind, because he blew away that storm? Or Azure for the color of his fur?" Usopp proposed.

"Or Sparky," Zoro added.

"I like Thunder for his electric abilities, which really helped us out," Nami said thoughtfully.

"Shishishishi! You all are so bad at names! I think he looks like a lion so his name is Leo! Captain's orders!" Luffy declared.

Nami stared at him but eventually gave a gentle smile. "Well, that's pretty simple…but it should be fine, what do you think, Leo?"

"Shi shi shi shi!" I cried. I didn't care what my name was or understand if it was simple or obvious or stupid, I was happy they came up with it for me!

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed with me. And looking back at that day, sitting at the table with the crew that would be my family, who just gave me a name, I wonder if that's the first moment I joined Luffy's crew. Or at least, the moment I went from a stowaway to a friend.

Because it was the very next day that we came across the floating restaurant of the sea, the Baratie.

* * *

"Look out there! It's a boat restaurant!" Luffy shouted, hopping up and down with excitement against the railing.

Nami crossed her arms, a small smile on her face. "I hardly believed that old man when he mentioned there was one floating around the East Blue, but here it is. Do you think they'll sell us some barrels of provisions?" She said thoughtfully. Leo jumped up carefully to the ledge to see what they were looking at. A large boat with a duck shape on it and a dock.

Everyone piled out of the ship, Leo tensing, squirming cautiously on the ship side as the pirates either jumped down the six feet or took the two ledges down to the ground.

Zorro noticed, and called back. "Come on, cat. Unless you want to wait in the ship."

Leo wriggled nervously for a few more moments before taking the leap, plunking onto the deck without even a stumble.

"Do you think they'll let Leo in?" Nami wondered.

"Why wouldn't they? Let's eat!" Luffy cheered.

Nami sweat slightly and looked down at Leo. "Well, I guess if we're traveling with pirates, that's far from a big worry."

She shrugged and the five of them walked in and found a seat at a large round table. Usopp picked up Leo and set him in his lap as their server came over, giving him a scratch behind his big round ears.

Their server was a tall teenager in a black suit with yellow hair came over to them. "Welcome to the Baratie, can I get you started with any drinks?"

"I want meat!" Luffy cheered, banging his fists cheerfully against the table.

"And I'll take nectarine juice if you have it." Nami smiled at him. For a moment, he had no reaction at all, before his mouth opened, almost dropping his cigarette. His eyes turned into hearts and he began to wobble back in forth.

"Of course! For such a beautiful woman, I would grow them from seeds to ensure you only had the best! My name is Sanji but you can call me your greatest admirer—"  
Sanji went from melting over Nami to standing at attention in a moment, leading to even more confusion.

"Is that a cat?" He asked, head tilted in confusion, a slight frown drawing his lips down.

"That won't be won't be a problem, will it, Sanji-san?" Nami jumped in, speaking sweetly. "Leo is very well-behaved."

Leo watched the interaction between — These people. Immediately Sanji's demeanor flipped again. "Ah, that shouldn't be a problem unless the other chefs see it. As for food, if you'd like, I'll bring out plates of all our specials if you all are very hungry."

The crew nodded and he disappeared back into the kitchen to prepare the drinks.

After a while, Sanji brought the food out and Zorro asked for a refill on his second order of sake.

Leo popped his head over the table as Sanji set down the first of three giant trays, almost losing balance when Luffy whipped an arm out to take a leg of roast.

"Hey—wait what?" Sanji blinked in disbelief. "Did your arm just—?"

Leo stretched his paw out and rolled a chicken wing to himself before jumping down onto the ground, holding it in his jaws by the protruding bone. Already the flavor was making his mouth water.

"This ish so good! Sanji you should join my crew!"

"Chew with your mouth shut, you're in the presence of a lady!" Sanji snapped. "And no way!"

Sanji was just setting down the last plate, trying to set the last platter further away from Luffy, who was chomping through his second plate already, with Usopp and Zorro not far behind, realizing they had to snap up food quickly in order to get their fill. Behind them, the front door of the Baratie slammed open, knocking against the door a few more times as a weak echo. A gray-skinned disheveled man stumbled in, supporting a larger but equally exhausted man in gold armor. The restaurant went silent as they took a few unsteady steps into the room before collapsing to their knees.

The gray skin man locked eyes with the blond chef—Sanji. "Please, you have to help him—my captain and the crew haven't eaten in weeks."

Sanji doesn't say anything. A gentle thump of a refilled glass of juice is set in front of Nami is suddenly incredibly audible. No one moves.

Leo, who is under Usopp's table, could smell the scent of decay on the man's labored breaths even several tables away and the chicken in his mouth suddenly tastes sour.

Sanji exhales quietly, folds his hands into his pockets, and without meeting their eyes, heads into the kitchen, passing by a buff yet goofy looking chef who had been checking to see what had happened.

He looked hostile and angry, and Leo could sense his intentions miles away. Harnessing his own feelings from a few days ago, and how he'd been treated so kindly recently, he crept over to the tall man, dropping the chicken leg in front of the tall man.

* * *

The man stared for a few long moments after demolishing it before reaching out to grab Leo with a large yet emaciated hand.

"Hungry!" His voice was cracked and guttural, his body controlled simply by the need to eat to survive as he reached for the small blue creature. Leo shrunk back, realizing what was happening but unable to stop it before he was picked up by the scruff by a rough hand.

"What is this in our restaurant?" Patty boomed shaking Leo in emphasis, hand on his hip. Leo tried to make himself as small as possible.

The Strawhats had jumped to their feet when the armored man had reached for their small friend. Luffy's face now a frown. Zoro placed a hand on his swords as a light warning. "We're gonna ask you to put the cat down."

"Huh? This is yours?" Patty asked skeptically. He'd heard of pirates keeping pets around to bolster their toughness. Animals like Newfoundlands, Mastiffs, Strong Island Gila Monsters. Cargo ships occasionally had a cat aboard to help with the mice but the strange cute blue cat now scrambling with its paws to get a grip on his fingers was quite unexpected.

Sanji walked out of the kitchen at this moment, having finished a plate of fried rice he had been working on. He sized the room up before stooping and setting the plate as well as utensils down of the ground in front of the pirate captain. He picked up the chicken bone from the ground, looking around before glancing at the struggling lion pokemon.

"That cat belongs to those pirates, Patty. Let's not make any more enemies." He said.

"Tch." Patty dropped Leo, who landed on the ground in a run out of the restaurant in a hurry, bounding out and around the corner in a panic.

"Shhhh," Leo hissed quietly, eyes slitted, trying to recollect himself. He'd almost been eaten. After a few moments, he heard Nami's voice.

"I'll be back in a minute, just checking on Leo!" She called. He heard the tap-tap of her sandals and allowed her to approach. A second later, he was being picked up. He looked up at her, and her face was set with a determined look.

"Shh, be quiet. We're getting on the ship." She tucked him under her arm and made her way back to the Going Merry, ignoring the large ship docked next to them, filled with starving pirates. She boarded the Going Merry, set Leo on the deck and got to work readying the ship. Leo felt himself be very relieved they were leaving the restaurant after the last few moments but jumped up in surprise a few minutes later when the ship started to slowly pull away from the dock.

"Shi!" Leo cried in alarm. The rest of her crew wasn't here!

"Leo, hush! We're getting out of here! That cook is going to feed all those pirates and I can't afford to have it end here! I need to go back to my island!" Her eyes softened slightly as the ship pulled away twenty, thirty feet from the dock and she spun the wheel. "And I know Luffy promised to take you to the next island, so I'll fulfill that promise he made you as thanks for what he's done for me."

Leo stopped his worried pacing near the side of the ship as they pulled away further, recognizing it as a lost cause. It's not like he could swim the fifty feet separating them and he was getting what had been promised, he just wanted a chance to say goodbye to Luffy and Zorro and Usopp.

It was quiet for a while until Nami was confident she had set the ship on the right course and quickly and efficiently prepped the ship in what should have been a four-person job. She sighed, sitting on the steps and pulled out two apples, offering one to Leo.

"Here, I know you probably didn't get the chance to eat much either, so eat up now."

Leo sniffed, he hadn't gotten the chance to eat anything, in fact, _he'd_ almost been on the menu. Leo padded over, laid down and started gnawing on the apple, doing his best to trap it between his paws so it wouldn't roll away.

"I wish I hadn't had to leave them." She said eventually, throwing the apple core over the side of the ship. "But I always knew it was temporary, just until I could work up the funds to save my village."

Leo's ears perked up slightly at that. _Save your village?_

"My village…let's say there has been a group abusing their power there for a long time. And after all this time," she clenched her fists, "I have what I need to send them away." She pondered this for a moment before speaking again. "But my island is a great place for animals, so you don't have to worry about that. There's plenty of coconut trees and small animals to play with, and you could even visit my sister and I if you want, and try our grove's tangerines. They're the best in all the Blues."

Leo's ears twitched slightly. He didn't like the idea of going off on his own again. There was so much he didn't know and he was still so unsure of himself. He couldn't even protect himself from almost getting eaten! And Nami, she looked so sad. Whatever was happening on her island was weighing on her so much that she made a choice to leave the people she was having fun with. Looking at her now, she looked so lonely. Like all she knew how to do is say one goodbye after another.

She didn't sleep that night, so neither did Leo. She brought a thick blanket on deck and sat against the railing for breaks and Leo would nose his way in, curling up between her leg and the blanket until she giggled and protested that his whiskers were ticklish.

It was a good night, everything considered. She would give him a couple pats and talk about her sister, funny stories from when they were young and got in trouble with an older woman that was only referred to as 'she' as if Nami was remembering these stories rather than telling Leo. Leo didn't mind as he felt more and more sleepy throughout the night until he abruptly woke up in the morning to a slowing ship.

There Nami stood at the wheel, aiming at a dock meant for smaller boats. The ship slowed as the mast was furled and she docked with only the tip within reach of the dock in order to protect to the larger ship. She hoisted her bags of beri onto her shoulder and tucked Leo under her arm before jumping onto the dock.

She looked at Leo expectantly, like she was waiting for him to run off when they got to the ground. Leo, startled by her clear intention, glanced around nervously. She stared for a moment then laughed.

"You're scared. You never fail to surprise me. Alright, you don't know anything about this island, so I'll show you where I live and cook something up for you." Nami smiled. Leo smiled in relief and followed her toward a small town.

When they arrived, Nami, carrying the two large sacks of berri looked tense.

"There should be people walking around. I haven't seen anyone." She said quietly. Her direction changed slightly as she led Leo, who was at her heels, toward a plaza in the center of town. As they were coming around the corner, Leo could already hear the startling sound of dozens of footfalls.

Before them was what must have been the entire village, carrying broken broomsticks and rakes and shovels and fires marching toward the other side of the island.

While Leo was unsettled by the strange human behavior, Nami was horrified.

"Nojiko!" She shouted. A blue-haired girl around Nami's age in the back of the crowd stopped suddenly as the mob pulled forward. She turned around, eyes wide with what looked like surprise and dread.

"Nami…" Yes, Leo decided, she looked sad.

They stared at each other for a moment as the mob pulled away. Then Nojiko slowly walked up to her.

"What are you guys doing? You don't stand a chance against them!" Nami protested, shaking.

"Nami, we knew about the money. We knew about your deal with the pirates this whole time. I'm sorry." She said softly as if delivering bad news. Leo looked back and forth between the girls in confusion. Protest died on Nami's lips as a half-formed sound caught in her throat. "Arlong…he knew you were close. He told the Marines where it was buried and they took it. I'm sorry, they took all of it." Nojiko wrapped her arms around the unmoving, ramrod straight Nami. "But it's okay. Because we're going to take it back. We've been relying on you for too long, half-hoping you'd leave and never come back, half-hoping you would be our savior. I'm sorry. We're going to get rid of the Arlong Pirates."

With that, Nojiko pulled away, fondly stroked Nami's hair and took off running. Leo took a few steps after the girl, fully expecting Nami to give chase. He was surprised when her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, tears tracking down her eyes.

If those pirates were really so dangerous, Leo knew those townsfolk wouldn't stand a chance. Shouldn't they try to stop them? He whined slightly and pushed his head against Nami's arm, trying to coax her to react. When she didn't even blink, he tried again, and a third time.

Finally, her eyes trailed over to him, her expression wildly different from anything he had seen from her. She was sad but furious.

"Get away! Why are you still here? I fulfilled the agreement, I don't owe anyone anything!" She shouted. Leo shrunk back, ears pulled back, but didn't step back. "Get away, you dumb animal!" Nami picked up a small rock at her side and threw it at Leo, only a few feet away. It clipped his ear and he charged away ten feet in sheer instinct before stopping and turning around. Feeling hurt and confused, he pinned his ears back and gave a half-hearted hiss.

"AWAY!" She screamed louder, sobbing, she picked up another rock and chucked it blindly, just missing him.

Leo ran this time and didn't turn back.

Leo ran until he made it out of town and found cover in a patch of shrubs, trying to catch his breath. He wasn't a stranger with having rocks thrown at him. When he was fending for himself, he had to make trips into town constantly in order to scavenge food. He wasn't old or strong enough to catch food for himself—he didn't even know how. Children would often throw rocks or try to hit him using slingshots and chase him until he escaped into dense foliage. But it had never hurt as much as this. His heart felt heavier than his fear when he thought back to her eyes, empty, scared, crying. Was she still trying to stop them? Leo had those thoughts as he curled into a miserable ball. Eventually, he felt himself drift off into an uneasy rest.

When he woke up again, it was night time. He pulled himself up. Even if Nami didn't want to see him again, he still needed to know what happened!

Leo retraced his steps back to town. Again, no one was walking around outside, but some lights were on in the houses and when he peaked through a window, he could see people who had just hours ago taken up arms getting ready for bed. But where was Nami?

Leo never did find out where she lived with her sister or the other woman. His only clue was the pirate base everyone had been heading to. He took off in that direction.

Eventually, he got close enough to see a tall brick wall of the base. It was easy enough for him, even if he was quite cautious of heights. He walked along the wall for a few minutes until he found a good spot. He scooted up a few feet up a sturdy plant growing at the wall's side and jumped to the wall where sufficient ivy was growing. With his weight, it started pulling off the wall, so he had to move up the wall quickly. He had it to the top, huffing quietly. It was quite a sight. The base was right on the water, had a pool and a tower-like building. Even at night, there were blue, buff looking humans walking around. Leo squinted his eyes, jumping down the other side and skirting the wall toward the building. He'd have to be careful and quiet. There still wasn't any sign of Nami or her sister, but Nami had told him that she had been forced to work for them, that put an uneasy feeling in his belly.

Leo patiently waited in the tall grass until the humanoid being walked by. On closer inspection, they couldn't be human. They had sharp teeth and strange features and webbed hands. Then Leo darted by again. He found a knotted tree around the back of the building that he didn't have to climb as much as he had to take one or two foot jumps from knot to knot until he reached the roof of the second floor.

There were plenty of windows, so Leo peered in as many as he could, as stealthy and sure-footed as possible of the roofing. No, no, no. Either empty or only the strange aquatic people. Leo jumped from a window sill to the next, up a couple feet of a pipe, a small ledge, up to the third floor. He was very high up now, and he walked as close to the building as he could, trying not to think about getting caught or falling. He wasn't sure which would be worse.

He went from one window to the next, checking each one. Nothing. Leo sighed slightly, wondering if he should try back in town. This building had felt so right. He was still moving around the building when he heard something that immediately drew his attention. Crying. Nami. Nami was here and it was coming from above.

Swallowing a dreadful feeling, Leo found his way up another floor through ledges and thick patches of climbing ivy. He checked the first window sill he saw and sure enough, he saw the orange haired girl seated at a desk cluttered with paper, trying to recollect herself.

Leo jumped onto the window sill and let out a quiet _meow._ Nami jumped slightly and looked around, finally seeing Leo with shock. After a moment's hesitation, she came over to the window and opened it.

"Leo?" Her voice belayed her disbelief.

"Shiiinx," Leo drawled. _About time._

 _"_ How did you get here?" She asked, wiping away her tears in vain. They kept running down her cheeks.

Leo jumped to the floor and rubbed his head against her legs, demonstrating he wasn't scared of her from their last encounter.

She tensed at his touch, trembling. After a moment she had a controlled drop to the floor, wiping her eyes with one hand and petting Leo with the other. A small smile graced her lips. "You came to see me? I can't believe it. You shouldn't be here, it's dangerous. You don't owe me anything—"

 _I'm not here for anything like that._ Leo said, wishing she could understand him.

She took a deep breath. "You shouldn't be here. But thank you for coming." She looked at her desk. "That bastard really took everything. I left the money I took from…I took from Luffy at Nojiko's… I went to stop them. The only thing I could do is to promise to work twice as hard, to work for them forever and never complain and that he'd let the townspeople go back without being hurt anymore. But I know they'll be punished still for d-disobeying. I can't do anything else. I can't leave the island anymore!"

Leo looked up at her with his large yellow eyes, signature smile sobered off his face, something about them set with both determination and melancholy.

Nami started with realization. "You're…Leo, you're not just some animal. You're intelligent, _aware._ More than an animal. You really _understand,_ don't you? You understand my feelings." She gave him a look, softer and more honest than he'd seen—something with admiration. A creature with not just sympathy but empathy!

Then there was a hand on the doorknob, and in a flash, nearly too fast for Leo to understand, Nami scooped him up, tossed him through the window and shut it before wheeling around.

Leo stuck his claws out on the tiles to control his tumble. For a heart-stopping moment, he was in the air, groundless. Then his instincts kicked in, and he reached out grasping the edge of the roof, leaving his hanging suspended over the third-floor roof. He pulled himself up in panic before looking forlornly back up at the room where Nami was. A large blue humanoid was now looking through the reopened window. He heard Nami saying something like 'I don't know, I thought I heard a bird hit the window.'

Thankfully, Leo was obscured by darkness, but he'd had too much adventure for the day and climbed down the building and back over the fence without attracting attention. He found somewhere to settle a safe distance from the base and laid down to sleep, still feeling unnervingly open to predators. He didn't fully understand why Nami hadn't wanted him to stay and comfort her, but he had to trust that she knew what she was doing and that she was working the best interests of both of them.

 _Even if you aren't in that pirate crew anymore, I'm going to help you get back to your sister,_ _Nami._

* * *

 **That's all folks, as Leo was more agile, he evaded capture, and when I rewrote the scene for Sunny, I just couldn't see it happening that way, though Sunny's special attack stat is much more notable.**


	13. Splinters

**The crew and Sunny are really starting to understand each other and I'm very excited about the shift. :) Also thank you so much for your thoughts on Leo's chapter, and welcome, new readers- especially** Thomas Drovin **,** **for all your reviews!**

* * *

Sunny tried extra hard that day to spend time with his sleuth. When Nami poured through her book of maps (incomplete, she'd said), Sunny nudged his way into the kitchen, which lately Sanji had taken to keeping ajar. He was in the early preparation for a late lunch now that things had settled enough from being on the Grand Line for a few hours.

Sanji's eyes registered Sunny but instead of sitting at the table and asking for food, Sunny walked over to the counter, standing against the cabinet, positioned himself on his haunches and leaped straight up in the air, just grabbing onto the counter ledge and pulling himself up with a proud huff. Sanji, who had jerked forward slightly, up stopped as he was holding a paring knife, looked at his small crewmate quizzically.

Up there, it was easy enough to find the tea kettle hanging from a hook above and moving it down with his uncoordinated forepaws by tucking the large kettle under his chin as best he could.

Sanji tried to go back to peeling potatoes but set his knife down again in curiosity. Sunny rolled his eyes under his eyelids as he set it down with a clunk and scooted it toward the sink. Quickly, he figured out how to make the water go and gestured to it.

"You want me to make you tea?" Sanji asked, finally taking the kettle and filling it with water.

Sunny shook his head and pointed to himself. _He_ wanted to help. After all, he was the junior Lieutenant of Fire and he wanted to help, especially on the Grand Line. Sunny may not protect and lead the crew, or cook, or make things, or navigate, or be a great fighter, but he could care for them.

Maybe someday as strongly and bravely as Laboon did with his crew.

Sunny told Sanji as much as he stood there with a filled kettle. He scratched his head."You want to make the tea yourself? Well alright then." He brought it to the stove and Sunny jumped across the sink, stepped over the knife, and skirted the diced potato bucket to join him.

He wasn't entirely comfortable with an animal running around his counter, but Sunny was his crewmate, and it wouldn't be too much trouble to clean the countertop after he was finished. Especially seeing the determination on the small shrew's face, he was amused to note he looked like he was going into a fight.

He could forgive paws on the sanitized counter just this once, Sanji decided while preparing to switch on the gas for the stove when Sunny made a loud sound of protest that sounded a little like a cut off an alarm bell. The chef jumped and gave Sunny an unimpressed look. But Sunny just shook his head emphatically, and blew a small string-thin flame under the kettle, expanding as it hit the metal.

The blond's eyebrow rose and mouth fell open a bit. "I didn't—you can do that?" He shook off his surprise. "That's a useful trick."

He went back to peeling while Sunny heated the tea in breath-long bursts of the thin flame. Just as he was exhausting and starting to feel the dry sting in his throat, the kettle began to whistle gently, causing Sunny to jump in surprise and Sanji to spring to action, grabbing green tea leaves and steeping them.

"Well done," he said. The next four minutes, Sunny twitched impatiently until Sanji poured a cup of tea and offered it to him. Sunny shook his head, jumped off the counter and lead him to the door.

Puzzled, Sanji followed with the cup and kettle, smiling to himself, led Sanji to Nami. When she looked up at the chef, she said, "Oh, Sanji, did you bring me tea?"

The chef's mouth worked up and down a few times before he spoke. "Nami-swan not even this steaming tea could compare to your hotness! Ah—but _actually,_ Sunny made this all by himself, but if you want anything to go with your tea, I will bake it for you with love, Nami-swan!"

Nami accepted the cup and took a sip. "This is wonderful," she said with a content sigh.

Sunny grinned and jumped onto the pool chair with her, going over to inspect it. Nami lowered it to offer it to him, and Sunny took a delicate sip.

The large shrew sighed as well and Sanji retreated with a rare reserved smile as Sunny curled up at his dear Nami-swan's side.

* * *

The next morning, the pirates morning ritual felt completely different while being virtually the same. They woke up, washed up in the bathroom (Sunny giving himself a quick groom), then head to breakfast (oh, look, the two poachers, helping themselves to deviled eggs). After eating, everyone found activities while the prisoners sat together a distance away from the rest.

Usopp was concentrating on a tinkering project he was carrying around in a piece of cloth. Nami kept trying to come by, and Usopp would dart away and set up again across the ship. She gave up quickly and picked up a book.

Sanji stared longingly out into the water in the rare times he wasn't cooking or doting on the women. Zoro trained even longer and harder, even forgoing some of his naps for meditation with his swords. Even Luffy had a strange energy about him on the Grand Line.

* * *

"AHHH! We're going the complete wrong way!" Nami screamed. The second half of the day was much more challenging with all hands and paws on deck to try to navigate through the Grand Line's non-sensical magnetic field, errant weather patterns the even Sunny's Sunny Day couldn't dispell, and at least two` near-sinkings from rogue floating boulders or lighting strikes. Finally, things settled down enough for the crew to have dinner late in the night. Then, soaked, everyone but the lookout went to bed.

Sunny felt lonely and missed Laboon, and wished more than ever he could talk to the crew. He was suddenly struck by how intimidating everything was even with the crew he'd grown to love. He was even crossing what might as well be an ocean of magma to be with them.

But he hardly had another moment to think about it as his eyes slipped fully closed, and his damp fur rose and fell in time with gentle snores from the hammocks above.

 _Sunny woke up in Peacha Cove, the now-unfamiliar filtered light shining through. It was approaching the heat of summer if the cracking pale grass under him was any indication. The tops of the trees had yellowed in the harsh sun, leaving the clearing a dry plain. Even the small lake had dried and receeded into a shallow fraction of its size. Grass pokemon migrated or hid during the worst hours, their own leaves wilting. For many, the hottest region of Johto summer was a time of hardship and hunger._ _Not so for a cyndaquil family._

 _Around him, his sleuth was in motion. Typhlosion snoozed on the hot rocks under the sun, occasionally roaring gently at their kits. Two cyndaquil rolled over each other, nipping playfully. The paler cyndaquil dipped his head sheepishly and ran to the Typholosion with a long scar down her nose. A little ways away, a Quilava was splashing in the shallows of the dry lake, snapping up fry and small fish she found hiding in the silted water. Onshore, the darker cyndaquil squeaked in protest as droplets of water landed nearby, making Quilava look up, tossing a guppy up in the air and eating it with a crunch. Cyndaquil needed to be dry at all times, but Quilava were hardier and had no qualms about getting their paws wet if it meant getting a snack. Vesper was always more keen than most. And Mom and Dad sunning on the rock, their last hunt making them lazy._

 _The larger cyndaquil was contenting himself now with widening a ratatta burrow he'd found. With a strange sensation of removal, Sunny looked from his past self to the paler color cyndaquil, his brother, Red, pressed to their mother's side. He felt weaker, more exposed, a ghost. His life before he knew misfortune, even before he became a pirate. He watched his mother lick a wound on her shoulder. This must have been after she'd gone to the town. She always came back bloody when she went near the town. He saw his younger self yawn and settle down for a nap and he had a sinking question—if he had the chance to go back and leave the Straw Hats, could he? It was painful to even think about leaving them._

 _His vision went black and Sunny was back in Peacha Cove, not in the clearing, but now seeing from the perspective of his younger self, being held by the scruff my his mother as she ran through the early fall foliage. The dry underbrush crackled with embers as they were flanked on both sides with a growing wildfire. He squirmed in her grasp. Her mouth, paws, and chest were red that might have made her took scary if it wasn't just his mother. His father and siblings were nowhere in sight. He couldn't remember how they were separated, but he did remember a chase. The smoke was beginning to rise, hiding the sky. Sunny remembered the fear as it revisited his chest, knowing a fire this strong when he was so young, could smother and kill him. Sunny knew Vesper could make it, even if she was alone, but he desperately wondered where his little brother was, if he was with their father._

 _Then, as he remembered, a figure appeared in front of him, floating, maybe a few feet tall. His mother dropped him onto the ground and he lay there, cowering, as she roared at the being in their path. The creature swept an arm in a circle silently. Suddenly, a searingly bright disc was below them, in every direction, spanning out far into the smoke. And Sunny and his mother were plummeting into the brightness, down, down, down, while the trees and rocks and fire stayed in place and white was all that was left._

Sunny sprung in the air with a quiet squeak, jerking his head in every direction to orient himself. He wasn't falling. He was on the floor of the boy's cabin. In the Merry. On the Grand Line, with his crew. His crewmates. The cabin. Everyone was sleeping. He caught his breath, shaking. Laboon. Had it been Laboon that had reminded him of his old world? It wasn't like him to dwell so viscerally in the past. Sunny felt the pang of loneliness in his chest erupt unbearably. His sleuth. Sunny heard something move overheard and peered up to see Luffy flip over with a yawn, and lean over, half off his hammock, with a small frown on his face.

"What are you doing, Sunny?"

Sunny shook his head, taking a moment to try to recollect his disoriented thoughts.

"Did you have a bad dream?" His captain asked. Sunny looked at him, but he was too disoriented to focus on him. Finally, he reached an arm down and scooped Sunny up, plopping him on his chest.

"You miss Laboon?" Luffy asked. "Will food make you feel better? Maybe not…" He rubbed his forehead in thought. "You want to see other guys like you right?"

Sunny nodded, rising and falling slightly with the boy's breathing. Maybe he didn't need to talk to the crew because Luffy listened with his heart instead of his ears.

"I could tell Laboon cared about you too, he wanted me to watch out for you. I could tell. Shishi…" Luffy abruptly shifted, eyes lidding. "Don't worry, Sunny, we'll play in the morning…" And he was out, snoring gently. Sunny had been shifted onto the side of the hammock, pressed against Luffy's side, his captain's arm draped limply over him. The fire type considered moving, but it felt good to be next to someone again.

If felt like home.

* * *

The ship's prisoners were beginning to get used to their captivity on the second sailing day. Ms. Wednesday was ordering off-menu, claiming the lounge chair (much to Nami's annoyance), and Mr. 9 had sunbathed in his boxers on the deck (though Ms. Wednesday had swiftly and effectively put an end to that).

The crew was having dinner around a crowded table, Sunny sitting on Usopp's lap to make room for "prisoner side of the table" which were the seats farthest from the cheese plate.

"You're really alright just being dropped off on the nearest island?" Nami asked.

Ms. Wednesday shrugged haughtily. "I know the next island set on the log pose will be Whisky Peak and that will be just fine."

Sanji refilled Nami and Sunny's drinks. "You're so confident Ms. Wednesday-chan!"

Nami glared at him while Sunny slurped up his tea in one breath, exhaling a smoke ring in delight. Usopp ooh'ed a little as the smoke drifted up, fading.

"But what is this Whisky Peak?" Usopp asked, bringing the conversation back on track.

Ms. Wednesday and Mr. 9 exchanged a look. "They're just an island that likes to celebrate, with lots of food, drink, and music," Ms. Wednesday said finally.

"Food?!"

"Heh, sounds alright to me," Zoro said.

Sunny wasn't sure why the mood changed so quickly, but everyone's spirits seemed to elevate at the thought of arriving at Whisky Peak—everyone except Ms. Wednesday and Mr. 9's. But food and drink? Sunny wasn't nearly as enticed as the others, after all, world-class chef Sanji already prepared all their meals, and Nami and Zoro drank like fish no matter where they were.

"How long until we get there, Nami?" Luffy asked.

Nami rubbed her hands together, a smile creeping across her face. "Tonight."

* * *

"Thanks for the ride!" Ms. Wednesday shouted, sitting on the railing, before flipping backward into the water followed by Mr. 9 and they both jetted off to shore. Sunny had to wonder how those two were such strong swimmers.

"Weird," Zoro shrugged, as Nami and Usopp positioned the ship into the channel into Whisky Peak to dozens of people waving and throwing confetti on either side. Waiting at the center of a large bridge was a man with curled long blond hair.

"Welcome to Whisky Peak, the Grand Line's Celebration Island!"

Sunny perked up a little more, standing up on his back legs next to Zoro to see more of what was happening.

"Celebrate with us while your Log Pose resets! We welcome all comers, even pirates!"

"Especially pirates!" One shouted from the welcoming crowd.

"Alright!" Luffy cheered. "Drop anchor!"

As soon as they stepped ashore, those with hands were presented with a drink with little umbrellas. When Zoro inevitably was hesitant to accept the tropical drink, it was dumped out without ceremony and in an instant, Zoro was holding a bottle of sake…with a little umbrella in it.

His face split into a wolfish grin.

Before Sunny knew it, the crew was whisked away into a large room completely prepared with a hibachi chef along with lines of food, stacks of drinks, and girls.

The townspeople were not just warm and friendly but seemed to thrive off their own hospitality. As the group was led into town, someone even offered to carry Sunny up a flight of stairs. Sunny looked at him for several moments before racing up to the top of steps himself.

Humans had reacted to him in many ways in his time in this world — fear, curiosity, aggression, but never disinterest. He didn't trust a group that had no reaction to him. He wasn't sure what it meant but it seemed like at least part of their welcome was for show.

 _Or maybe this was how people on the Grand Line were?_ A small part of him doubted as the crew was led into a room full of food and drink. A small band in the back began to play, much to Luffy's delight, and as the townspeople presented various offerings, and the party began in earnest.

In the hallway, two of their hosts exchanged words, one holding up a transponder snail. "Let our contact know they've fallen for the trap."

* * *

 **Finally, I can start going into some lore. And changes from the canon story are slowly appearing...you know what they say about small ripples..** **.**

 **PS: Sunny's birth name? Blue, of course!**


	14. No Such Thing As Free Sake

**I really like seeing the small differences in the characters showing up a little at this point. As Zoro said, taking care of someone (a pet) matures you, and this Luffy is a little bit more thoughtful when he has to be. Not very often though, as this chapter will demonstrate.**

* * *

Despite Sunny's initial sense of overwhelm, he quickly shifted from hiding under a dusty armchair as the band started playing, to creeping over to Zoro, who was sitting at a table with Nami and Sanji, and climbing onto his shoulder. The party was coming to life all around him, with Usopp speaking animatedly with a group of men as they passed around beers and hung on his every word.

"I was wondering where you'd gone off to," Zoro grunted, pulling away from the sake gourd. Sunny stuck his nose into it with impetuous curiosity. He was repaid by an overwhelmingly strong but sweet smell filling his sinuses.

"Eh, you want to try?" The swordsman asked mischievously. Sunny, seeing all his crew, except Luffy, who was shoveling food into his mouth, had something to drink, began to nod when Nami shook her head sharply.

"Sunny, how about you give this a try?" She offered her bottle of red wine, helping him hold it as he gave it a tiny taste. He immediately recoiled at the sharpness but the berry flavor reminded him of the smell of peacha berries baking in the late summer heat. He gave Nami an approving nod and she poured a splash of wine into a sake cup for him before looking mischievously at the rest of the group. "Anyone want to play a drinking game?"

There was some brief squabbling over which game to play and some brainstorming on how to include their tacit crewmate when finally, Sanji suggested an adjusted version of Never Have I Ever where they would guess yes or no question on Sunny's longer turn and if they were right, Sunny would drink.

Again, Sunny wasn't sure he understood the rules, but he was happy to play and trusted his friends to help him.

Sanji asked first—"Do you have brothers and sisters?" Sunny took a sip for 'yes'.

"Have you left your island before?" Zoro asked, taking an out-of-turn swig of sake. The cyndaquil dawdled on that answer, he wasn't _sure_ how to explain that one. He couldn't, he realized, looking down at his reflection in the wine. The face of a pokemon in a group of humans. Finally, he decided on taking a sip.

Sanji and Nami exchanged a confused shrug. "Are you _from_ the Grand Line?" Nami asked. Sunny shook his head and Nami took a pull from the wine bottle. "Too bad," she sighed, "that could have explained it."

"Where you always able to use fire?" Sanji asked. "You didn't eat a strange tasting fruit, did you?"

Sunny drank at Sanji's first question and shook his head with a negatory 'quillll' on the second. Nami refilled his sake cup, and he felt his cheeks feel pleasantly warm as he looked over to see Usopp and Luffy arm in arm, swinging around the room.

"Alright, this is turning into an interview rather than a party game," Zoro groused.

Nami uncorked another bottle of red wine offered by a nearby party-goer. "Fine, then. Never have I ever been to another Blue." Sanji took a drink.

Zoro thought, drank, and said: "Never have I ever had a tattoo." Nami rolled her eyes and drank.

Sanji's turn. "Never have I ever had a devil fruit?" Just then Luffy passed by, catching a fragment of the conversation, grabbed Zoro's sake and took a short drink.

"BLEH! That's gross, Zoro!" He complained loudly, letting the sake spill out of his mouth.

"Don't drink it then!" Zoro scolded.

"Luffy, cut it out! And don't give Sunny alcohol either, he's just a kid!" Usopp protested. He was now playing chess with a host, using fancy fruit tarts as pieces and eating them as they were captured.

"Sunny wanted a taste!" Nami defended. Sunny hummed contentedly, he was still keeping an eye out, watching the strange people, but the strange tingle of dishonesty Sunny had sensed had dulled away. He was much calmer and felt better than he could remember being like his constant prey instincts were softened and he was finally allowed some confidence.

"Never have I ever been a quadruped," Nami winked at Sunny, who took another sip from his paw-sized cup.

Behind them, Luffy, egged on by hosts, had managed to tie himself into a pretzel.

"Never have I ever met anyone like our captain," Zoro said. They all looked at each other before laughing.

"That's no fun, now no one gets to drink!" Nami protested.

* * *

Sunny laid in Usopp's lap as he galed a story to a group of women (including a drinking nun?) who had joined the festivities. His story was getting more non-sensical and he stopped for long pauses before deciding what to say.

Sunny burped a bit of fire and curled up into a ball. Parties were fun, but they were exhausting.

Little did the fire pokemon know, the denizens of Whisky Peak were watching all of them carefully. One of the seemingly drunken hosts straightened up and pulled another villager into the hallway.

"Did you see that? What their pet did?" The first bounty hunter asked. She had a long brown bob and big, light eyes and a gentle smile that didn't match her words or voice.

"Uh, no? What, did he fetch?" The other bounty hunter, a tired-eyed man with stubble asked disbelievingly.

"Check the book," she hissed.

The man sighed and pulled out a folded and bound set of bounty poster and started thumbing through it. "It's worth like 100 B, man. Keep your eyes on the prize. "

The woman rolled her eyes and flipped to the next page. The fresh bounty poster had a drawn image of a shaded, inhuman figure, with a question mark inside of the shape.

 _Beasts of Supernatural Abilities — Wanted: Alive — 5 million berri on confirmation._ '

"I found one—it breathed fire! The thing is practically worth its weight in gold! We need the captain _and_ their pet! Come on, we need to be ready to move soon!" They headed back into the room where several of the crew where in states of stupor, with the red-head chugging wine and the long-nosed man passed out, and the captain half-wake, finishing off the last crumbs of the feast.

The first bounty hunter looked around. "Wait, where's their pet? Or the green-haired guy?"

They quickly searched the entire room. Sure enough, in the minute they'd been gone, the little payday had snuck away and so had the sake-lover.

"Shit! Do you think it caught on? Animal instincts?"

"We underestimated it! We need to move while we still can!" Wailed the second.

* * *

Sunny felt comfortable like he was dreaming until a tiny prickle of unease reached through his relaxed haze. He wasn't a psychic type, but he'd always had a minor sense for certain emotions, something his father had had too. It could make him jumpy, but it was also what led him to trust Luffy and the others. He slipped outside to feel the cool wind on his face as he had the strange sensation of being too warm.

 _Hic._

He really had grown to love the smell of the sea. Sunny's eyes drooped even further and he gave a tiny yawn. He really had fun tonight, he felt bad for being so uneasy around the townspeople after they'd been so generous. _Hic._ Maybe he could afford to let down his guard, considering how strong Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji were.

"Sunny! What are you doing out here?"

The shrew pokemon jumped slightly and looked over from where he was sitting on the pavement looking at the quaint town, to Luffy, escorted by two of the townsfolk, who looked at each other, sweating slightly as they saw the fire-type.

"Cynda— _hic_!" Sunny greeted warmly, getting up to approach his captain and the townspeople without an ounce of suspicion. "Qu iii?" _Where are you going?_

"They ran out of food here, so I'm helping them get the rest of the meet from their restaurant! Wanna come?"

The first host jumped at the opportunity. "Yes, you should come!"

Sunny titled his head, but walked up to Luffy and accepted the lift onto his shoulder. _It's better to stay together,_ Sunny thought. _Just to be careful._

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Luffy piped up. "Ne, where's the food again?"

"Oh, very close now," the woman said, stopping where he stood and raised a hand in the air. Neither Luffy or Sunny had enough time to react properly before they felt the opaque shadow of a net descend onto them from a building above.

The net was weighted and instantly pinned Sunny against Luffy's shoulder. What Sunny wasn't expecting, however, was when Luffy's struggles abrupted stopped as he titled forward, falling flat on his face on the ground, eyes half-lidded.

Sunny, who had tried to stop Luffy's fall, had to pull himself out from under his limp captain, the nets barely allowing Sunny's compact form to stand up. The hosts were shouting now, something like 'we got them!' into their transponder snail. The other side crackled slightly and responded, 'we're having some difficulty with one of his crew, we'll call back when we finish him.'

The cyndaquil took advantage of the time they were occupied to slap Luffy across the face. "Cyn cyn!"

Luffy's eyes shifted to look at him and he gave a weak groan, twitching his hand. "It's sea prism stone, isn't it? That's mean, why would you attack us?" He whispered.

The first bounty hunter hung up the call she was on at looked at her captives. "Are you stupid? How do you pirates never know it's a trap? We're bounty hunters! We sell the bounties to the Marines and kill the rest! You crewmates are being taken care of right now! But don't worry, we'll bury them, just like the others!" The bounty hunter raised her hands, toward the massive cactus-like hills on either side of the town. Every cactus needle is actually a grave!" She laughed, her smile spreadingly snakishly across her face.

Luffy's eyes shaded behind his hat and he began to shake furiously under Sunny's paw.

The little cyndaquil felt the last dredges of that pleasant feeling fade away as his body burned so hot, a puff of vapor escaped his mouth and suddenly he could think clearly again. _Enemies,_ sirens flashed his mind. _Fight. Win. Burn._

It was all too much for Sunny. _They planned to capture or kill us this whole time,_ he thought. _They even knew how to weaken Luffy._

Sunny bit into the rope with his sharp back molars and shook it viciously. The rope didn't even fray. Channeling the same energy he'd used at Reverse Mountain, he blew a large mote of fire at the rope but was durable enough to only char lightly. He tried a weaker but more steady breath of fire, and to his relief, the rope was beginning to wear and catch fire. Unfortunately, the bounty hunter's smiles slipped off their faces as they saw Sunny make progress. One pulled out a bat, and the other stayed unarmed though he had a shotgun slung over his back.

"Idiot!" The woman hissed at the man. "It isn't affected by seastone, we need to stop it!"

She charged with his bat, intending to bash Sunny in the head, but the fire-type abandoned his progress on the charred ropes in favor of rolling out of the way. He continued to move under the net, dodging blows, careful not to get caught up in the netting.

The man finally lunged at him, intent on crushing him under his arms. Sunny let out an undignified squeak, sprayed burning embers into the man's face, and careened in the opposite direction. The man screamed out in pain, covering his watery, red eyes, and lashing out with his feet, tangling in the netting. The woman tripped over the netting as she tried to avoid hitting the other bounty hunter with her bat, tumbling over and landing next to Luffy's prone form.

The chaos was just enough for Sunny to start to shed his instinctual prey-driven panic and realize his first priority was getting out of the net now that the bounty hunters were temporarily occupied. He nosed his way under the net, enjoying the feeling of standing unrestrained once again.

The bounty hunter who had lost his sandal was the first to get back up. Sunny ran around, tackling the back of the bounty hunter's knee but he didn't buckle, instead lifting up his foot to try and slam down on Sunny. The fire-type hopped back, barely avoiding his shoe, and the man stepped forward and stomped with his un-sandaled foot. This time, Sunny took the blow. The man's foot slammed him flat against the gravel, popping the vertebrae in his back.

It was a small price to pay as Sunny's eyes opened to look up at the man before igniting with all his might. The bounty hunter fell to the ground screaming, his foot smoking.

A third bounty hunter had arrived on the scene, alarmed as he saw one bounty hunter writhing on the ground and the other just getting back on her feet and only one small opponent. Sunny stepped between the new opponent and his captain, flaring to warn him away.

The third man wasn't sufficiently impressed and swung at him with a weighted chain. Sunny ran to the side, narrowly avoiding the second and third lash as well before closing distance, where his weapon would be less versatile and bit hard into the man's heel.

The other bounty hunters falling over each other had given him an idea. _They say Alolan exeggutors have the farthest to fall…_ Sunny thought, _here goes nothing_. Once he'd secured his teeth into the man's skin, he pushed forward with all his might, sweeping the man's weight from under him and causing him to hit the ground, head slamming into the pavement.

Once he was grounded, Sunny had finally leveled the playing field—he blew out an ember at the man's chest, causing him to wake from his stupor and start patting out his chest with one hand, while the hand holding the chain jerked out.

Sunny would be the first to admit he'd underestimated the bounty hunter. He had very little time to reflect on that, however, when the chain struck him behind the ear, sending him flying through the air, and rolling to a stop a few feet in front of Luffy. Sunny lay there, blinking a few times as the chainsaw-loud buzzing filled his ears and he felt pain travel across his skull and down his spine as he tried to work out what happened.

One paw, another, another, one more. Before he knew quite what was happening, Sunny had gathered his sprawled limbs back under him. It was instinct, it was a pokemon's natural response. He hadn't been knocked out, and if a pokemon hasn't blacked out, they can and will continue to fight.

Sunny just had to figure out how to balance. As he stood up, he tipped over onto his side, head still spinning. Forming coherent thoughts was beyond him, but his one base thought was that he had to keep moving.

The bounty hunter who had fallen over himself near Luffy finally stood up, readied. As did the man Sunny had just attacked, favoring his injured leg. They held their bat and chain at the ready just in time for Sunny's vision to clear enough to see them.

The woman with the bat stepped forward, weapon held above her in both hands as she prepared to finish the fight. Then, she felt herself stop mid-step as if her ankle was caught in something. She jerked his foot and looked down. A hand was gripping her ankle with vice-like strength, though the boy holding onto her couldn't lift his head off the ground and was panting in exertion.

"Don't…don't touch my crewmate!" Luffy said through gritted teeth.

The bounty hunter only had the sense to be unnerved for a moment before she scoffed and kicked Luffy hard in the head, jarring his grip enough to pull away. Luffy fixed her a glare more firey than Sunny's ember but couldn't push his hand back toward her fast enough. The distraction was enough for Sunny to push through the smothering pain in his head to face their enemies and try to ignore the strange vibrations in the ground.

He charged at the bounty hunter Luffy had a hold of, moving fast enough to avoid another whip of the chain. He felt his stride quicken in the few bounds it took to reach the man, and by the time he processed what was in front of him, he was already there, his shoulder pushing into the bounty hunter's stomach, fire flaring, head pounding, as the man let out a shout of surprise, staggering back.

The pounding under him continued. Footsteps, he now knew, just about to be audible.

 _Cha-chik._ Sunny, who had been preparing another ember to send at the woman, looked over to see what the sound was. The man with the burned foot was sitting on the ground, shotgun aimed at Sunny.

"Qui?" Sunny couldn't help but say in surprise. _What are you going to do with that? You're twenty feet away._

"Don't mess with me! I'll blast you away, even if it means we only collect one bounty!" The man yelled. From the side street, a dozen more bounty hunters with various weapons came into sight. Sunny turned to the man holding the shotgun and took a step forward, growling. The man gritted his teeth and shut an eye, finger on the trigger.

"Sunny, no!" Luffy managed.

Then, from the side street, a dozen more bounty hunters with various weapons came into sight and Sunny and the captured Luffy were surrounded on all sides.

A bounty hunter with a big nose wearing a hawaiian shirt held up a sword. "Give up, rodent, or things are going to get ugly."

"Ugly? Trust me, they already are," a voice came from a building above them. Sunny jerked his head up along with all the bounty hunters. The crew's unofficial first mate was standing there, blood running from a gash on his forehead, holding his third sword in front of his mouth. His shaded steel eyes now fixed on Sunny. "Sorry I keep intruding on your fights, campfire. But somehow I worked up a mob in town, so we're going to need to finish this quick." A demon grin spread across his face as he took up the sword hilt between his teeth.

Sunny looked at him, and managed a small smile. " _I'll leave it to you, budew-face."_

* * *

 **This chapter, the tiny Sunny in my brain was extra vocal on what he wanted to do and it went much differently than my outline.**


	15. The Shadows of Baroque Works

**Everyone-thanks for your patience as well as helping me hit 150+ faves/follows on this story!**

* * *

 _"Give up, rodent, or things are going to get ugly."_

 _"Ugly? Trust me, they already are," a voice came from a building above them. Sunny jerked his head up along with all the bounty hunters. The crew's unofficial first mate was standing there, blood running from a gash on his forehead, holding his third sword in front of his mouth. His shaded steel eyes now fixed on Sunny. "Sorry I keep intruding on your fights, campfire. But somehow I worked up a mob in town, so we're going to need to finish this quick." A demon grin spread across his face as he took up the sword hilt between his teeth._

 _Sunny looked at him, and managed a small smile._ "I'll leave it to you, budew-face."

...

Zoro jumped into the air, landing next to the man with the shotgun, his katana stabbing into the shotgun's chamber.

"Watch where you aim that thing," he growled, swiping his sword aside, gun clattering to the ground, and with a slash of his second sword, the bounty hunter was caught across the chest. Then he turned to face the bounty hunters nervously gripping their weapons.

Sunny slipped back under the net, getting a grip on the back of Luffy's shirt. Slowly but surely, Sunny made progress until Luffy's head was out of the net, but Luffy still wasn't moving. Sunny sniffed his face gently, Luffy managing the barest smile to his usual laugh when Sunny's nose tickled his face.

Determining the dragging wasn't hurting his friend, Sunny re-secured his teeth on his shirt and took measured steps back. Sunny used a final desperate lurch and with all his strength pulled Luffy from the net.

The instant he was clear of it, a hand shot out to brace against the ground as Luffy tried to pull himself up. In his still weakened state, he stumbled to the side, then caught himself, cracking his knuckles.

"Zoro, leave some for me! They tricked me!" He announced hoarsely.

"Sure, Captain, but I've already taken down seventy-three, so you're going to have to catch up."

"Oh?" Luffy's frown found its way back into a smile and he swept a leg out immediately toward the bounty hunters.

The captain and first mate began to knock down the crowd of bounty hunters.

Sunny tasked himself with guarding the downed bounty hunters though some were hard to tell if they were conscious, unconscious, or worse. He'd help again, he just needed a breather…and an oran berry.

Okay, no, he wasn't guarding.

He sat down heavily, he just needed to take a rest after the harrowing experience. Without being bid, fire flicked across his back, making him itch to move while being beat out by bone-deep exhaustion and the pounding in his head and back.

He'd never been out of a battle while blazing, the ability he'd inherited from both his parents.

Just as Zoro and Luffy finished off the last of the bounty hunters, an unusual shape hurtled by, too fast for Sunny to make out—a blur of yellow running on two legs like a chicken.

"Was that a giant duck?" Zoro asked. "With that woman on its back?"

"I don't know, but it had a hat on," Luffy observed.

A second later, Luffy was nursing a bruise on his head. "Nami?"

The redhead folded her arms next to him. "Looks like you three got into trouble. But that doesn't matter, we need to catch up to that princess—er—Ms. Wednesday. Long story, but everyone with code names like 'Mr. 9' or 'Ms. Monday' are part of a criminal organization called Baroque Works. Except for Ms. Wednesday—she's a spy and the rest of them know. So go stop them."

"What? No way, I've been fighting these guys all night. I'm getting some sake."

"Don't you remember your 200 million berri debt you owe me for your swords? What about your bushido?" Nami asked with faux-horror.

"I already paid you back, you loan shark!" He yelled, but he was already running the direction the duck took, and away from Nami.

Luffy charged after him, and Sunny managed enough speed to jump onto the back of Luffy's shirt and climb back on his shoulder. Nami was left standing in a plaza filled with bodies.

She stood there for a moment.

"Well, time to rob them blind," she grinned cheerfully.

* * *

"Ehh, Sunny you sure are warm!" Luffy remarked as the fire-type joined him on his shoulder.

It was an effect of his blazing, Sunny knew. His fire instinctually strengthened until he was healed or rested. He adjusted his grip to only hold onto Luffy's clothes and not touch his skin but Luffy didn't seem to mind.

At Luffy and Zoro's speed, unbelievably, they caught up to Ms. Wednesday, or as Nami had explained—the princess, within a few minutes because her path was blocked by two people, a woman with a citrus theme and a shades-wearing, afro-haired man. The princess' head jerked over to look at the Straw Hats. She didn't look like the haughty, selfish girl she had been just hours earlier. Her wavy hair fell across her face and back and her eyes actually expressed emotion—fear. "You guys…."

Sunny found he couldn't hate her as she was now.

"Liarrr heeeey! We caught up!" Luffy greeted. "Who are these guys?"

Zoro stopped too, crossing his arms and examining the strange pair in front of them. "Must be Baroque Works. They tried to recruit me a while back." He gave them a wolfish smile. "How's Mr. 0 doing?" The Baroque Works agents prickled and the princess hissed in shock at Zoro's provocation.

Zoro chuckled, unsheathing his katanas. "Well, I suppose you wouldn't know." Ms. Valentine and Mr. 5 attacked then, unable to control their fury. Sunny hopped off Luffy's shoulder to slink to the side of the street.

If there's anything Sunny had learned as a pirate, it was that just about everyone discounted him because of his size. Sure enough, the agents were focused on the more obvious fighters. Ms. Valentine, who could change her weight, was now floating in the air with her umbrella before crashing down inches from Luffy as he barely moved out of the way.

Sunny perked up. _Was she going to go up again?_ He jumped onto a trash can, then a storage container, up onto a window sill, sidling two feet up a gutter and found himself on the roof of a single-story building.

Once at the edge of the roof, he lay down, keeping his head low in wait. Mr. 5 flicked something at Zoro that he cut in the air, followed by a large boom and smoke. The woman monologued about their devil fruits, then she began to rise in the air again, laughing. She seemed to be a one-trick ponyta. Sunny tensed and leaped for her umbrella, clutching the treated fabric and releasing a smokescreen just as she was nearly above her partner. She yelled in surprise as something over five times her current weight landed on top of her, thick smoke billowing from every side of the umbrella. The smoke was hot and direct enough to pepper holes in the fabric of the umbrella, which smoke filtered through and in a second, Ms. Valentine was hacking, falling, and blinded.

She tucked her legs in and yelped— "1000 Kilo!" And before Sunny could comprehend, they'd hit the ground, with a loud slam. Sunny bounced off the umbrella, flipping in the air and managing to go with the roll and land on his feet. He waited impatiently for a few moments as the smoke began to lift, first off the ground, Sunny regaining his visibility several seconds before anyone else.

 _S_ unny saw with irritation that his plan hadn't worked out as he had hoped. Even though Ms. Valentine had slammed down in panic, she hadn't landed on her partner.

 _Tch._

Ms. Valentine got off the ground, closing her burned umbrella furiously. Sunny's allies, as well as enemies, were now dirty though Sunny's own coat mostly resisted the smoke stains. The two Baroque Works agents picked themselves back up, "Stay out of this, we're dealing with the princess first, then we'll deal with you," the man hissed, fishing something out of his nose.

Zoro and Luffy tensed while Sunny tilted his head incredulously. _What. What is he doing? Is this really the place?_ The man rolled what could only be a booger on his fingers before flicking it into the air.

Sunny didn't have time to register it flying toward him until it was too late, heading straight toward him. His eyes widened to near circles in disgust as he instinctually tucked his head into his tummy.

Then everything exploded. Black and red light and smoke billowed and sparked in every direction, enveloping the small unprepared creature in its blast.

"He took a direct hit!" Zoro hissed from outside the newest smoke cloud, gripping his swords in shock. He'd cut the explosion in half and still been hurt from the indirect hits. Sunny had taken the explosion head-on without a chance to guard and on top of that, he wasn't in good shape, which is why Zoro had assumed he'd stay back. In retrospect, it seemed like a foolish thought. The little-his crewmate—had a streak of ferocity that should have come with a starved bear. He had to wonder was normal for his and Laboon's type or the Straw Hats had been stuck with a pint-sized lunatic.

Vivi looked over to Mr. 5 with a look of horror on her face. She knew he was cruel, but targeting the little creature had been completely cold. Her skin itched as she imagined how the strange captain would react if they would escape before reinforcements came or fight until the end.

Mr. 5, seeing her expression shrugged. "If it couldn't take a hit, it shouldn't have fought. This is a lesson on taking better care of your pets."

Then, behind him, something a foot in circumference rolled across the ground. Fast, quiet, and burning, it was homing in a measured arc toward Mr. 5. Neither the pirates nor the princess were quite sure what to make of the flaming ball until the smoldering shape hit a rock and bounced into the air, slamming into Mr. 5's back with staggering force. The agent stumbled, falling onto the ground hard as the ball bounced and uncurled a few feet away. Heavy breathing whistling through his snout, Sunny; battered, burned, but standing. In the split-second Sunny had had to react before the detonation, he'd tucked, shielding himself from the worst of the fiery explosion, then he'd improvised. He wasn't sure how he'd managed it, but he knew when to let instinct guide him.

Luffy finished the agent off with a final punch to the face as he got back to his feet, throwing him into the side of a building with enough force the stone cracked and he didn't stand up again.

Sunny's fur was standing on end, bunched and sooty from the explosion even with his resistant fur. His paws were raw and he was pretty sure he'd cracked his nail on a hind paw. His breath rattled and his flames spluttered fitfully. Looking at the downed enemies, injuries he'd barely remembered receiving burned and pulled on his skin and his ribs ached horribly. The excitement of battle and the instinctual drive to protect his friends dulled in the enveloping presence of exhaustion.

Suddenly, it was a lot harder to move through the gently tilting world and it was too easy to collapse half on his side, huffing tiredly. If he were in his world and with a trainer, he would be expected to handle all the fighting but even these two back-to-back battles had pushed him past his limits.

"Y-you defeated them," Vivi whispered as Zoro sheathed his swords. He'd easily defeated Ms. Valentine as she came out of her 1000 kilogram fall without incapacitating one of them.

Luffy adjusted his hat back on his head and walked over, scooping Sunny up and holding him on his shoulder. He gave an amused laugh as Sunny gave his ear a grateful lick. He was safe now, he was with Luffy and Luffy was his captain. And a captain was a promise. A promise they'd take care of each other no matter what.

"That was a good fight! Vivi—tell me who this boss guy is!"

Vivi's eyes went wide. "No—if you know your entire crew will be in grave danger. I can't—"

Luffy's grin grew. "Even my youngest and smallest nakama defeated these guys, besides, it sounds like an adventure!"

Vivi looked behind them at the unconscious Baroque Works agents then at the three pirates, clenched her fists and told her story.

* * *

Igaram, formerly Iggrappoi, formerly Mr. 8's, ship burst in flames and the roll of fear and misery to consume her.

Luffy turned around to the flames robotically, slamming his fallen hat back on his head and giving a furious yell. Sunny just clung to his shirt, quivering in shock and fear. Igaram, in the end, had just wanted to protect Vivi, he'd gone out to be a distraction and he'd been killed for it…it was completely wrong.

Falling in a head-on battle was always a possibility here, but to be killed outside of a battle, unaware and unable to defend…it was nothing short of a nightmare. And for Igaram to be destroyed in a similar manner that Sunny had just experienced in his own battle, it was too much. Lost in flames. He hated to realize it but his instincts were screaming in fear that his own fate could have been worse in the explosion, he could have been unlucky enough to be in Igaram's shoes.

And Vivi, he couldn't dislike her any more, not after what she'd been through.

Zoro and Nami tried to keep the group on track.

"Nami, the log!"

"We're all set!"

"Grab the girl!"

Nami shouted a few things to Vivi over the roar of flames and crackle of the burning lumber, holding her when she didn't react. "Baroque Works, gimme a break, Crocodile, ha! Those guys are the ones who should be worried!"

* * *

Luffy and Sunny burst through the door, decimating it as Luffy grabbed Usopp and Sanji by their nose and foot respectively, charging back toward the ship at full speed. Sunny jumped off Luffy's shoulder and onto the Merry's deck in a single leap, joining Zoro on the deck and immediately going on guard for more bounty hunters. If there were more, he would take them. They wouldn't be safe until they got off this island!

Sanji and Usopp were not given any sympathy for their hangovers or their new bumps and bruises as the crew scrambled to set sail. This was in large part due to them waking up as soon as the sail unfurled, shouting that they wanted to spend another night and that the town had been so inviting. Read the room already. Sunny's hypervigilance shifted to annoyance and he reached up and bit Sanji's ear hard enough his protests turned into a scream. Nami, having the same idea, punched Usopp's lights out again. She was a woman who wasted few words in these situations.

A few minutes after setting sail, Sunny basked on deck, waiting for the new day to burn away the fog and revive the fire he'd used in the battle. He was absolutely spent, sore, and bruised, and moving seemed to be an impossibility for him now that he'd settled. He felt himself drift off to sleep in an alcove of barrels at the bow of the ship. This time, he was more than happy to stay out of the human's discussions.

Until something roused him from his near-doze and brought him back to wakefulness. It was still foggy and the island in view so, despite the drastic change in mood, Sunny knew little time had passed.

They were shouting. How his keen hearing not picked it up before? It had taken two heavy thunks on the deck to trigger his acute burrowing senses to coax him to consciousness.

He secured his paws on the ground before lifting himself up. His body immediately protested its soreness. He felt steadier, but slower than before. He climbed up from the cache of barrels. A woman with black hair and a cowboy hat, sitting on the kitchen roof as if she belonged there while the rest of the crew stood tense.

She stopped mid-sentence when she saw Sunny, and edged forward slightly from where she was sitting on the galley roof, twirling Luffy's hat in her hand. Sanji and Usopp were picking themselves off the ground. Her predatory eyes narrowed, fixing themselves on the scruffy new arrival.

"I see you've found an interesting creature as well," she purred. "The plot thickens. Tell me, little beast, what are you called?"

Her honey-sweet voice was underlined by her maliciously mild smile. And why was she holding Luffy's hat? His captain would never allow that, and she must be strong if she could take it from him.

Sunny looked around. Vivi looked like she was going to cry all over again, Luffy was furious, and even Sanji looked torn between upset and lovestruck.

Sunny wasn't sure why he tried, but her words toward him and her having his captain's hat incited him to charge her.

It only took a few moments before he was on his back on the deck, looking up at the crows nest. It took a moment to register what happened. He'd tripped somehow, but he hadn't seen anything on the deck. He was hurt, but not dizzy anymore, how had he lost control like that?

Sunny jumped back on his feet and shook himself off with frustration.

"I wouldn't try that a second time, little beast. I'm not here to hurt your crew after all. I just came to deliver a message," she said. "Crocodile wants to meet you all. Though I don't think you'll make it there, you see, the next island on your log pose is Little Garden. From what you've shown me, you'll never make it out alive. Especially now that you've crushed my gift." She gestured to the smashed pile of glass and wood in front of Luffy. "But, well, if you do survive, I hope that we'll meet again at Rain Base."

Luffy crossed his arms. "No." She offered a small chuckle before throwing the hat so it landed back on Luffy's head and jumping on the back of a giant sea turtle and disappearing into the fog.

Luffy ran to the side of the deck to get a better look. "Oh wow, Sunny, was that one of you guys?" Luffy pointed in the direction they'd disappeared.

Sunny jumped onto the railing and shook his head no. It was just a strange, normal creature from this world. Still, to see more of his kind soon would make him so happy. Sunny's eyes slid to the blue-haired girl who crumpled to her knees, overwhelmed-Iragram's brave sacrifice still fresh in their minds. He'd decided she was worth the risk. She was clearly more than the persona she'd worn as Ms. Wednesday. Sunny may not know this real Vivi, but maybe his own goals could wait until they found some help for this brave princess.

* * *

 **Sunny doesn't know Flame Wheel yet, but under circumstances, he was able to use the explosion to improvise it. Now that he has the idea though…**

 **Also, I'm pretty excited for this next chapter, which is actually almost done. Thanks, let me know what you think!**


	16. Close Encounters

**In regards to questions, Sunny's just hit level 13, he's not necessarily going to evolve when he hits a specific level though, mainly because level 14 feels too early for him.**

 **Also, there won't be a pokemon on each island because of how the pokemon came to this world but rest assured, there are plenty more pokemon in the OP world to be discovered!**

* * *

 _Sunny's_ _red_ _eyes_ _were_ _wide_ _with_ _fear_ _as_ _his_ _face_ _burst_ _out_ _of_ _the_ _water,_ _choking_ _and_ _sputtering_ _out_ _the_ _salty_ _seawater._

 _"_ _Quuuuuu!"_ _Sunny_ _squealed_ _out_ _in_ _panic,_ _looking_ _around_ _wildly_ _in_ _panic._ _Around_ _him_ _is_ _nothing_ _but_ _gray_ _water,_ _storm clouds,_ _rain,_ _and_ ** _—_** _in_ _the_ _fog,_ _is_ _that_ _the_ _Merry?_ _The_ _shape_ _was_ _so_ _far_ _away._ _If_ _he_ _was_ _the_ _only_ _one_ _thrown,_ _they_ _would_ _never_ _find_ _him._ _If_ _everyone_ _was_ _thrown_ _off,_ _they_ _might_ _have_ _lost_ _the_ _Merry_ _for_ _good._

 _The_ _realization_ _halted_ _his_ _movements_ _and_ _he_ _felt_ _his_ _head_ _drop_ _under_ _the_ _surface_ _again,_ _and_ _again,_ _inhale_ _a_ _lungful_ _of_ _seawater._ _Sunny_ _wasn't_ _sure_ _he_ _could_ _reach_ _the_ _surface_ _again_ _when_ _he_ _saw_ _something_ _coming_ _towards_ _him_ _underwater._ _Something_ _white_ _and_ snake-like _reached_ _out_ _toward_ _him._ _Sunny_ _felt_ _the_ _spike_ _of_ _fear_ _in_ _his_ _heart_ _grow_ _even_ _further. No, not again. Sunny_ _wished_ _for_ _nothing_ _more_ _than_ _to_ _be_ _warm_ _and_ _dry_ _and_ _happy_ _with_ _the_ _crew_ _like they had been not fifteen minutes ago. The flames on his back responded automatically to his fear, trying to burst forth, instantly doused, and causing a wave of exhaustion to overcome him as I tried to prevent himself from breathing any more water. The white thing's jaw unhinged to strike out._

 **-20 minutes before-**

During their routine noon nap on the deck, Luffy flipped over onto his stomach to face Sunny, who mirrored the action curiously.

"Shishishi! Hard to believe we're on the Grand Line with a whole crew!" He grinned, his chin resting on the palm of his hand. "Are there people you want to see too, Sunny?"

Sunny thought for a moment. There were—if his father and siblings had been displaced as well, then they were out there somewhere, it was just a matter of looking! …And then there was someone else, a man he'd encountered on Spring Island, where Luffy had found him. _I need to find him too,_ Sunny thought, a strangely cathartic tingle of malice sweeping over him. _The other poachers._ He remembered that rainy day as well as the firey night of the Big Displacement. The roars, the gunshots, the body left on the ground he'd seen once he'd mustered the courage to leave his hiding place. He grit his teeth for a moment, released a breath, then gave Luffy a nod.

Luffy smiled back. "I do too!"

Suddenly, the sky darkened as clouds rolled in from either side. The sight was unnatural everywhere but the Grand Line, where wind blowing in two different directions was just another day at sea. Then the sky began to sprinkle and the waves picked up as if they were being jolted out of the water by an unnatural force.

"All hands on deck, there's a massive storm!"

Sunny watched as gray clouds thickened and expanded over the sky and steamed off the water as surely as if a pokemon had just used Fog or Rainy Day. In no time at all, the crew was scrambling into their places as the fog made it difficult to see past Merry's figurehead.

The Merry lurched to the side, provoking exclamations from the crew. Sunny barely slid across the deck at all. There wasn't even enough wind to take him off his feet and the waves, while pounding, were coming from multiple directions.

It couldn't have caused the massive lurch of the ship, he thought as he took shelter under a bench as Sanji and Usopp fought to furl the sail to weather the Grand Line storm.

Then the water on the left side of the ship began to bubble. Nami and Vivi froze.

Sunny and Zoro didn't have a view of it, only the horror on their navigator's face. Then a massive bulge in the water exploded and a massive, gaping-jawed sea creature with glittering red scales and intense eyes and flared gills held itself over the boat with a massive roar.

"SEA KING!" Usopp screamed, eyes all but rolling to the back of his head.

Sunny's blood stilled and his breath caught. His paws took him without his control from the bench' s shelter and his crew oogled the screeching creature. Its finned tail lashed out on the other side of the ship, soaking Zoro and Vivi's backs. It wasn't as large as the sea kings they'd encountered on the Calm Belt, only a little longer than the length of the bow, but it was much more ferocious.

That's because it wasn't a sea king, it was a gyarados, a red gyarados.

And she was furious.

Sunny ran over to hold one of Nami's knocking knees as she looked up at the fearsome face hovering twenty feet above the ship, behind them, the boat lurched. Gyarados roared angrily again.

 _"_ _You trespassed on my territory—that was your last mistake! Your ship will join my nest!"_

Sunny knew cruise ships and barges from his world dealt with territorial groups—people or pokemon—on the sea enough that it was virtually required to have a powerful ice- or electric-type on board but this world had no need until now. And this was the second great water type Sunny had met in a single week!

" _Gyarados! Please don't sink us! We didn't know this was your territory! We'll leave immediately!_ " Sunny moved forward on stumbling legs before he knew it. The rest of the crew didn't know what they were dealing with.

The towering water-type exhaled a breath and his wide-mouthed face lowered so she was only a few feet above him, Sunny smelled brine on her breath and saw fishbones stuck in her teeth.

" _Another one of us, something I haven't seen in a long time_ ," she hissed.

Zoro and Sanji exchanged glances as the sea monster picked up speaking as Sunny did—a few specific, repeated syllables that made up his name.

"H-he's talking to it?" Vivi asked in disbelief.

" _Gyarados, we're just passing through,_ " Sunny beseeched. If she was a pokemon, she would be reasonable, they were different from the sea kings. " _We have fish we can give you!_ "

Gyarados stared, seawater dripping from her lips.

" _Fish,_ " she said finally, " _does not taste as good as pokemon!_ "

Not even understanding the words being spoken, Sanji was instantly by the face of Gyarados, kicking her across the face, making her miss her lunge toward Sunny and hit her head against the deck instead, gouging the wood with a tooth.

Sunny flared as the rest of the crew prepared themselves for a fight. She roared loud enough for everyone to cover their ears and as they felt their eardrums reverberate with the roar. Luffy pulled Nami out of the way of another strike but they had nowhere to go. She was putting the weight of her neck on the ship, causing the new ship to groan and pitch in protest.

The gyarados was enraged enough to be both formidable and senseless, the wrathful glaze of her eyes rendering her unable to even fear Zoro's swords as he charged, katanas dancing across her body, cutting through scales and drawing equally vibrant red blood. She lashed out and he was thrown headlong into the mast. Puffs of sour smelling smoke impacted across her wet scales as Usopp's weapons impacted.

Vivi struggled to calm Carue, who was running in circles too close to the water dragon while Nami assembled her wooden bo staff and backed against the wall, looking around for someone.

 _Maybe me,_ Sunny thought. After reasoning had failed, Sunny had disappeared behind the mast and ducked under the serpent's underbelly, hanging up on the guard rail, and slammed into the slippery pale scales with all the speed he could muster.

He managed to make the serpent's body twitch but the recoil had him flying back, barely catching himself as he touched down again.

Luffy was struggling not to get bitten, pressed against the deck as Sanji came in with another kick to save him.

"Watch out, if it's like Sunny it might have other abilities!" he warned. As he spoke, Gyarados' tail flipped out of the water on the other side, slamming Sanji into the deck. He didn't move. Gyarados opened her mouth again and shot a massive jet of water, sending him rag-dolling in the force of water and hitting the other side of the deck.

 _She's playing with us,_ Sunny realized in anger. _She's not hunting, she's_ playing _._

Sunny charged at her stomach, impacting with all he could. Besides another small jerk, it had no effect. He tried again and again, ramming into Gyarados' side. Slowly, she began to withdraw, taking a few more deep slashes from Zoro as she went until she disappeared in blooming red water.

"She's gone..." Nami sighed. It was quiet while Sanji managed to lift his head up to recollect himself and the others resummoned their wits.

She wasn't a sane pokemon. There was something wrong with her.

"CYNDAQUIL!" _"We're a challenge to her!"_ Sunny shouted, flames still ignited, he stomped a foot on the deck. _"She hasn't given up! She's coming back!"_

"Campfire doesn't think it's over," Zoro observed, stance relaxed but katanas still in hand.

 _"_ _It's not,"_ Sunny confirmed grimly.

She appeared fifty feet away, half her body arched out of the water as she submerged and breeched in arcs, moving around the boat.

Sunny could hear her primal wordless call as it instinctually filled him with both fear and an urge to join her in the sea.

 _No, it can't be. Is this Dragon Rage?_ Sunny felt weightless in panic, like he was air about to float away. They were done for.

Nami must have read the way Sunny went white at the strange vibrative hums and calls from the water, shouting commands to the others. "WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW-" They realized that the arcing back of the gyarados sewing through the water had been joined by a dozen sea kings, smaller and of all colors. The weather was shifting brutally by the second, buffeting the ship with wind and wake. Water slid across deck as the crew gathered around the mast. The Merry shifted upwards as something slid underneath her. Sunny moved behind Usopp as the driving rain started to sting his eyes and skin so badly he had trouble seeing. The ship began to spin with a forming whirlpool.

"Come back here and fight, you big fish!" Luffy yelled. "Sanji is gonna make maki tonight!"

The tail lashed out again, slamming into Luffy. This time, Luffy caught it as he impacted into the mast, jerking the massive serpent to a stop under the water, gripping hard enough that Sunny heard a scale crack. It was almost impossible to stay standing now, the ship spinning and rocking and leaning. Zoro opened a long slash across her tail with his cursed sword, pouring blood onto the deck. An incoherent roar burbled from the water.

Then Gyarados' tail wrapped around Luffy's body and wrenched herself free from Zoro's next volley of slashes, flinging Luffy into the air with incredible force. Sanji, previously stunned from injuries, jumped into the water after him before the rubberman even splashed down, near the outer ring of sea kings.

Sunny was cold, and not only because of his wet fur and water underfoot.

They didn't stand a chance. Luffy and Sanji were now in her domain.

Gyarados fired a blast of water at Nami and Vivi, who had run to the side of the boat in alarm and they were flung off the ship into the tremulous water, Carue losing balance and falling in after them. In the distant water, Sunny saw three sea kings lash out and be thrown back, sinking into the water. He didn't have time to see if it was Sanji.

Usopp was shaking so badly his slingshot looked like a green blur. Another massive tide poured over the ship, soaking into the cracked boards.

Rage poured off Zoro's entire body as Gyarados reappeared in front of the remaining members of the crew as her gills flicked back in preparation for another jet of water aimed towards them. Sunny leaped off Usopp and towards the gyarados' head, falling until he caught onto her whisker, jerking her head to the side in pain as the water gun shot off into the water.

A tidal wave bloomed behind the ship larger than any Sunny had seen before, almost as tall as the mast. Gyarados flung her head to the side and Sunny's toothy grip failed as he flew straight into the tidal wave as it peaked over the ship.

That's when everything went sideways, literally. Sunny felt myself flying through the air, directionless, for several heart **-** spinning moments before he was finally able to parse a direction **—** when he was diving nose first into the tremulous ocean.

Like a candle being snuffed, Sunny was enveloped in all-encompassing blackness.

* * *

Sunny went still for a mere moments before his body reignited, effort to survive re-writing his faint. The little fire-type worked through the pain, panic, and cold to start pedaling, but he wasn't sure which way was up. He hadn't had the chance to hold his breath. The burning sensation of water in his snout and racked his head with pain.

 _Stop,_ Sunny thought. _Can't_ _work_ _myself_ _into_ _a_ _frenzy,_ _I_ _have_ _to_ _get_ _to_ _the_ _surface,_ _find_ _everyone_ _else._ _I'm_ _a_ _pirate,_ _I_ _have_ _to_ _look_ _out_ _for_ _the_ _rest_ _of_ _the_ _crew!_ He started pushing harder through the inky blackness, buffeting him from one side to the other. _My_ _legs_ _are_ _too_ _short!_ _I_ _can't_ _do_ _it!_ His red eyes were wide with fear as his face burst out of the water, choking and sputtering out the salty seawater.

"Quuuuuu!" He squealed out in panic, looking around wildly. Around him was nothing but gray water, storm clouds, rain, and **—** in the fog, is that the Merry? The shape was so far away. If he was the only one thrown, they would never find him. If everyone was thrown off, they might have lost the Merry for good.

The realization halted his movements and he felt his head drop under the surface again, and again, inhale a lungful of seawater. He wasn't sure I could reach the surface again as energy was sapped from his body. Then he saw something coming towards him underwater. Something white and snake **-l** ike reached out toward him. He felt the spike of fear in his heart grow even further.

 _No, not again._ Sunny wished for nothing more than to be warm and dry and happy with the crew like they had been not fifteen minutes ago. The flames on his back responded automatically to his fear, trying to burst forth, instantly doused, and causing another wave of exhaustion to overcome him completely. The white thing lashed out, jaw seemingly unhinging, and with the reserves of energy Sunny didn't realize he had, he secured his teeth into what he assumed was its head.

It jerked in response, and in the moment, they were both pulled out of the water, Sunny still in its grip, who was too occupied with vomiting seawater yet again.

"Campfire, hey, campfire."

Sunny worked his eyes open and stopped his feeble struggling. Above him was Zoro, treading water and holding me with a bleeding hand.

 _"Zoro?"_ Sunny asked, trembling weakly.

"I thought I saw something flailing in the water. Well, at least you don't sink as quickly as Luffy," Zoro said, his eyes darkening. "Dartbrow had hold of him right before we were blown off the ship, so with any luck, the shit cook won't end up killing him somehow. Hey," Zoro paused in his train of thought and Sunny realized he had started to slump in his grip, head dipping slightly back in the water. "Stay awake. I get it, you don't like water. We're gonna get back to the ship, alright?" Zoro growled slightly. Then he placed him on his head and started swimming toward the ship, which was just a shadow in the distant fog, threatening to disappear in the heavy rain.

Sunny nodded slightly, holding onto the foresty green hair. He had to stay strong through the cold and the rain.

* * *

Zoro was a strong swimmer, that I could attest to. Still, it seemed like an impossible task to catch up to a stray caravel.

"Still alive up there?" Zoro asked, after fifteen minutes. The cyndaquil kept his eyes locked on the ship in front of us, now close enough that he could see the mast. He anchored himself on that and got the feeling Zoro was doing the same. Because if the red gyarados found them, it was all over. She was merciless and crazed, unlike any pokemon he'd met. And Sunny was completely, irreparably useless against her. Completely useless...and rapidly losing consciousness again. Instead of getting stronger, he felt like his body was going in shock after being knocked out in the water and surging back awake in a desperate attempt to save himself. The overwhelming cold and wet didn't fade, just sunk deeper into him like a sickness and made it harder to breathe, harder to stay awake. "Quiii," he manages, voice faint.

Zoro responded with a lengthened stride, saying nothing for several minutes until they got closer to the ship, then he hesitated, treading water for a moment.

"That...doesn't look like our ship," he said. The ship was not the Merry. It was yellow and lower in the water with jolly roger with a geometric skull design.

Sunny felt himself slip both mentally and physically as the world spun again and Sunny had slipped off his head, Zoro abandoning his swim stroke in order to catch him just as he dipped into the water. Zoro swore in surprise, yanking the twenty pound, soaking wet dead-weight back onto his damp hair. The ship was closer now, and it was his only choice.

He approached the boat, reaching a hand out to grab the rope ladder on the side, still holding onto Sunny when the water disappeared below him with a strangely empty feeling in his stomach. And he fell on his ass on the deck on a ship, Sunny tucked under an arm, Zoro's mouth worked up and down for a moment before he collected himself enough to speak.

"What the hell?" Zoro looked around the unfamiliar deck, registered the strange man in front of him and jumped up, drawing a katana in his empty hand. Two splashes sounded in the water distantly. Then he noticed on deck with him, along with a group of decidedly unfamiliar pirates; was Nami, leaning against the guard rail, a towel draped over her shoulders. Nearby, the considerably more soaked Sanji and Luffy were sitting on the deck, Sanji toweling off the unsteady captain's hair.

Zoro felt a like a weight had been removed from his shoulders seeing the shit-cook hadn't messed up and let them get eaten. But just because he could see a majority of the crew was safe, didn't mean that he trusted the tattooed man in front of him.

"Who are you?" He demanded. The man, around his age, with a bit of facial hair, tattoos on his hands, a katana untouched at his side, and a furry, spotted hat looked at him unconcerned.

"I really should ask that as you just boarded my ship without permission," the man pointed out.

"No, I didn't," Zoro grit. "I was planning on it when I was somehow teleported onto your ship. How about you explain that?"

The man thought about it for a moment before accepting the point. "Fine, looks like there are a couple of things that need to be cleared up. But first, whatever that is under your arm looks like it needs medical help."

Zoro jerked in surprise, kicking himself for letting his focus shift—there were a lot of concerns at the moment; the pirates, Usopp, the princess, but he put them aside for the moment, sheathing his sword and holding Sunny more carefully. The little Straw Hat's head hung limply, fur soaked through and he'd gone alarmingly cold. Most worryingly, he hadn't made a sound since falling into the water again.

The man saw the creature and stepped forward automatically. Zoro tensing slightly as he did. Sanji was standing too, alarmed by the condition of the fire-type. "Damnit shitty swordsman..."

The man moved forward. "Trafalgar Law, I'm the captain of this ship and also a doctor. I suggest you let me take a look." Zoro relented, opening his arms to let Law see Sunny. Law felt his pulse, forehead, and ran his hands along his back.

Law frowned at the creature that was more soggy stuffed animal than a living being. It was certainly not a species he'd ever heard of either.

"It's hard to explain, but Sunny's very in tune with the element of fire, so water hurts him a lot," Nami said anxiously as she joined them.

Law took Sunny from Zoro and accepted a dry towel from a crewmate that was literally a bear in a jumpsuit and rubbed him dry, trying to elicit a response.

Sanji instinctually reached for his cigarettes as Sunny didn't move. "Fill bottles with warm water," Law told his crewmate who replied affirmatively and ran back below deck.

"He's breathing, so he'll probably be alright, he's hypothermic and exhausted," he said when his crewmate returned with the warm water bottles, which he tucked into Sunny's towel, and handed to Nami. "Give him a little while, once his temperature settles again and he should perk up."

Nami sighed in relief. "I don't know what we would have done without you."

Law looked at the blond chef. "What are you doing?"

Sanji had set out all his soggy cigarettes in a neat line on the deck to dry out. Law rolled his eyes and twisted three fingers in the air. " _Room._ "

Suddenly, Sanji was replaced with a wet log and another splash was heard near the ship.

A few moments later, a very annoyed, drenched Sanji climbed back on deck to a chuckling Zoro.

"What. Did you do." He accused.

"I'm a Devil Fruit user," Law explained casually. "With my ability, Room, I can switch two objects within my range, and frankly, this log is being more helpful than you so I switched you back."

"You can't just decide that!" Sanji protested, stalking back to his towel. "I was coping with a stressful situation!"

Luffy just laughed, finally recovering and pulling himself to his feet using the guard rail. "Tra-guy sure is funny! We owe him for saving Sunny too."

"'Tra-guy!' You can't just call me something that's not my name like that Mugiawara-ya."

Nami sweatdropped. This guy may seem serious, but he really was just like the other boys, probably around the same age too.

"How about we focus?" Zoro suggested, gaze trailing from his downed crewmate to the punctures on his hand from where Sunny had bitten him. The swordsman had seen Sunny do the same against their enemies and he could respect the power his scrappy crewmate possessed, despite all appearances. Even drowning, he'd kept fighting. It was a rare quality to have.

Just then, a man in the crow's nest shouted down. "Law! I found their ship!"

"Set course, " Law grunted, and the crew followed his orders quickly and efficiently.

Luffy didn't look excited like he normally would. Instead, he crossed his arms and frowned. "When I see Usopp I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind for making me worry!" he fumed as if it was his friend's fault.

As they approached a few hundred feet of the Merry, the crew let down a rowboat and the Strawhats and two of Law's crew boarded a skiff, Sanji abandoning his dissolving cigarettes on the deck.

"Bye Tra-guy! Thanks for not letting us drown!" Luffy shouted up at him as they were beginning to be rowed back to their ship.

Law crossed his arms and gave him a nod. "Yeah, maybe you'll hear about my crew again, if you don't go overboard again, that is."

"Shishishi, if that happens Zoro and Sanji will definitely save me again!"

* * *

 ****Fun fact: the extremely stressful drowning scene is actually the second scene I ever wrote for this story once I decided on Cyndaquil. I hadn't even thought of Cyndaquil's name. Don't ask why. Jeez.****

 **Finally, I've been working on a side project I think you guys will be interested in, I'm not announcing it yet but expect it to come SUMMER 2019 :)**

 **Please let me know what you thought of this chapter, it's a little bit of a risk doing an original arc, which still has to wrap up with 1 more chapter! And I hit 50,000 words!**


	17. Law and Disorder

**Thanks for hanging in there while I took a couple weeks off-I ended up being wrong, there will be one more chapter for this original arc. And thanks for 100 reviews! I'm over the moon!**

* * *

Sunny could only remember being very cold all of a sudden, not like he was moments before, but an all-compassing cold where he felt like all heat had left him as every other sensation disappeared with it. Then he woke up, and he wasn't lost at sea anymore, he was wrapped in towels and shivering but alive. Better yet, as he looked around, he could see he was on a small boat and most of the crew was with them.

A smiling face was above him, giving him scratches behind the ears. "Sunny, you're awake!" It was Nami. Oh, how glad he was Nami was alright!

"We're heading back to the ship now, another crew found us. Figured we'd all had enough adventure for the day." Zoro said casually, opening a silver eye to look at the fire pokemon.

Sunny had to wonder where the red gyarados had gone. Surely her fury hadn't been sated. And they were alive…How?

Sunny looked around at the members of the crew who were with him, relieved they were all still in one piece.

Little pieces of his thoughts floated off before he could catch them, or had time to consider what they were. He curled up into a ball, his breaths evening out.

Sunny got about fifteen minutes of rest before the rowboat gently bumped against the side of their ship. He felt himself be passed to Sanji as they climbed up the side of the ship and Sunny climbed from his arms to his shoulder, feeling somewhat better.

"Usopp! Vivi!" Luffy hollered to the empty deck, stretching up and vaulting the guard rail. As Nami climbed back onto the ship, giving a wave to the rowers that Sunny had no context for as they jumped back on the deck of their home, giving himself a relieved shake. Puddles of water and damage to the decking and rails reminded Sunny all too well of their last encounter.

He registered a vibration of movement in the ship in the direction of the kitchen and hopped in joy, gesturing to the kitchen.

"Yosh!" Luffy sprinted off to the kitchen to reunite with Vivi and Usopp. "Usopp, I'm mad at you so you better have snacks-"

As the galley door was swung open, Luffy was thrown back, tumbling across the deck, head over foot, and hitting the mast with a startling smack.

Zoro had already unsheathed his swords, his face drawn, icy, and infinitely dangerous. Sunny ignited, fire spluttering across his back. It was too early for him to fight, he realized.

Then, from the cabin door came Usopp and Vivi, ropes tied around them, lead by Marines with crooked smiles. Within moments, several other Marines popped out from Nami's tangerine trees and from underdeck.

These Marines had been lying in wait, on their ship, while holding their crewmates hostage. Rage burned in Sunny, glaring poison at the man holding Vivi wearing a Marine Captain's coat.

"I see the rest of the crew has finally arrived," he smiled as easily as someone visiting a friend.

"Unhand Vivi-chan!" Sanji yelled.

Vivi struggled and Usopp quaked in his boots, looking fearfully at Luffy.

"It's about time the bounties got here."

Luffy jumped up from his supine position, his eyes blazing.

The Marines on either side of their own captain raised their metal sticks nervously-Straw Hat Luffy looked furious.

Sunny had to wonder why these men, as well as the bounty hunter on Whisky Peak thought that would be any use. Luffy didn't seem to care either.

"How dare you hurt my crew," he said. The metal sticks clicked as the Marines tensed. Luffy threw a punch straight for the head of the Marine Captain, above Vivi's head.

Nami must have seen what Sunny was missing; she yelled their captain's name a split second before it happened. The blast of the gun punctuated her warning as Luffy grazed the Marine's face, his arm rushed back, popping back into place as he staggered back. His other hand flew to his shoulder, covering the spot where blood was beginning to pour.

"Wh-" Luffy said, staggering again, holding himself up against the mast. A cacophony of shouts rang out but Zoro was silent as he suddenly appeared next to the Marine with a smoking gun just as he moved to reload.

Zoro didn't give him a chance as blood bloomed from a deep cut across his chest. The deck exploded in chaos.

With two of the group captured and their captain injured, the remaining four had to defeat the Marines themselves. Sunny knew that. But his paws were rooted to the deck as surely as a sunflora using Ingrain.

That metal stick...had made that sound? Had ripped through his captain's shoulder? Wasn't that the stick that the bounty hunter had pointed at him on Whisky Peak? Sunny had been unafraid then but only because he hadn't known.

Nami had assembled her bo staff now and it was cracked into Marines as she made her way to Luffy, who was managing to stay standing. Sanji was fighting to reach Vivi. Zoro was fighting. Usopp yelling, Vivi...

...

Sunny could remember that sound, for a moment blasting like rain on stone, then it stopped. He wasn't on the ship anymore. He was in the forest on Spring Island. That noise had stopped his mother's roars. By the time Sunny realized his mother wasn't coming to retrieve him, it was only her and a few dead humans in the clearing. He hadn't known-he didn't imagine death could be delivered by such a small metal tube. Not to his mother. He hadn't recognized it-

"Sunny!" Usopp yelled his name in the chaos. His voice was heavy with fear and the memory of Luffy's blood. He was scared and angry.

Sunny centers himself on Usopp's fear, burying his own. He can function on someone else's pain. He can still move if he grounds himself in this moment. Sunny ran over to Usopp, intent on getting him free.

"We need to get out of here!" Nami yells, pulling Luffy up, but his foot twists numbly beneath him, forcing Nami to bear most of his weight. His eyes are dropped, his hand red, panting.

"We only need him and the rat!" The marine captain yells over the chaos. "Get strawhat while he's weakened by the seastone bullet!"

Sunny blinked in shock. They're after me too? Isn't my bounty a record low? Does it not matter to the marines? He supposed that a government-wanted criminal was all the same to them.

The marines went to intercept Nami and Luffy when Zoro again met them, gaze rivaling the severity of his blades.

Sunny made it to Usopp, dodging those reaching to grab him, or fending off their dives with a weak burst of his back flame. Just as Sunny was mustering up the strength to fire an ember on Usopp's ropes, a marine embedded his falchion between them. Sunny leaped back in surprise, glaring. If he could only release Usopp, Vivi, or even her weird bird, it would be so much easier. As was, he couldn't afford a direct fight.

Sunny had to defend rather than free Usopp when three Marines went on the offensive. They looked much more competent than the bounty hunters too. Sunny tried to duck out between them but one of the Marines dropped a heavy chain in front of his nose, causing him to back up.

On the other side of the field, Marines descended on Nami and Luffy, Nami doing her best to counter those that snuck past Zoro.

Sunny blew a weak ember at the nearest Marine, and jumped onto his shoulder when he lowered to try and club him, grabbing onto the fabric of his shoulder and nailing the Marine's face with a double kick. As soon as he touched down another Marine braved a direct hit from Sunny's back flame and pinned the fire-type down.

In a moment, both other Marines dropped down to help as Sunny fought to keep his fire burning. They quickly learned to avoid the spots on his back. A black foot came into Sunny's view abruptly, swinging around and taking a marine with it, tumbling across the deck. Just as Sunny thought he could squirm away with the added distraction of Sanji, Nami yelled out as a marine grabbed her, Luffy stumbling to one knee and holding himself there, staring at the ground.

"Shit!" Sanji is by her side in a flash, fighting the marine off as he again disappears into the crowd. With the distraction gone, the two marines have Sunny past any chance at escape. One secured his hand across his head, the other used the flat of her sword to pin Sunny on his stomach without being burned.

Even then, the marine nervously shifted as the metal began to warm. "The seastone collar!" She shouted as Sunny heard chains clatter. He couldn't see with his eyes covered by the hand, couldn't burn him through his quill-like flames, he couldn't bite, or slip away.

What would Luffy do? Well, Luffy wouldn't be able to move with the- An idea sprung to his head-an idea given by the marine's words and their experience in Whisky Peak. Hearing the clink of the heavy metal chain, he remembered the bounty hunter's ignorance on his powers, assuming he'd eaten a devil fruit.

Their reliance on that could give Sunny an edge-but only if they were misinformed or too riled up to think properly.

The sound of fighting continued but Sunny had no way of knowing what happened more than Sanji shouting a cut-off call for Nami. Swords clanged. Sunny felt something metal, cold and heavy snap around his neck, struggling in fear for a moment before forcing himself to go still.

The marines sat back in relief. Tense, Sunny lay still on his side as the marines loosened their grips. His mind raced. They can grab me again easily if I attack like this. I have to wait. I have to wait. He repeated like a mantra, urging each limb systematically to loosen, but he couldn't manage it.

Through his perpetually slitted eyes, he didn't have to worry about the marines catching him watching them carefully. Nami had been tied up, Sanji wrestled to the gorund. He watched as Zoro lowered his sword, two having been disarmed, as more guns are held to his crewmate's heads. They grab Zoro's arms and tie them behind his back as he growls.

Sunny felt himself get picked by the seastone collar and fights to breathe and not move as they are moved into a semi-circle around the Marine captain. Nami looks at Sunny in fear and confusion and Sunny briefly opens a red eye to look at her. Her eyebrows rise and her posture relaxes just slightly. Sunny doesn't have any details, he's not a strategist like Usopp or Nami, he just knows he has the element of surprise-if he can just find a moment to use it.

The captain examined them. "We got a call from the bounty hunters that they'd captured you. It seems they overestimated their skills a bit." He smiled. "We were on our way to get you when we found your ship, with only half your crew and decided to set a trap."

Sunny could see an approaching Marine vessel. So they'd hidden their ship in further in the fog so they wouldn't be on guard? That meant back up didn't it?

The ship was still a distance away. They had just a couple minutes to regain control of the ship. The marine captain stopped in front of Luffy, whose eyes were half-lidded, blood still running from the bullet wound.

"Strawhat Luffy, the prize of the Blue Sea. Bringing you in will certain net me some favors within the higher ranks." He reached out with his massive hand and held Luffy's chin up, inspecting him. "It's hard to believe such a young boy can cause the Marines all this trouble. Ah, but you were easy enough to catch." He bent over further, face closer to the kneeling Luffy while Sunny fumed, carefully limp behind them in the semi-circle. "Oh? You didn't think you'd be a famous pirate, did you?"

Sunny's eyes slid open, stormy and piercing as everyone on the crew reacted to the marine's insult to their captain with fury and outrage. Zoro's teeth were grinding his arms fighting against his bonds silently. His silver eyes caught on Sunny's, an eyebrow quirking. Sunny's eyes returned to squint in concentration, he took a deep breath, channeling all the fire he could, and gave Zoro a nod. Then he breathed all the fire he had at the marine captain bending over holding Luffy.

His impeccable white pants burst into flames and scorched his legs as he let out a startled yell and marines drew swords and pull their jackets off to pat him out in equal measure. Zoro had already taken his chance reaching a foot to pull a dropped katana toward him, backrolling over the sword, coming out of the somersault with cut ropes and the katana in hand.

In a moment, the flaming marine was cut across the chest. The marines securing Sunny was forgotten in the chaos. With Zoro having retrieved his second katana, Sanji's ropes were cut. Sunny ran to Nami burning and biting away the ropes with wisps of weak fire. Eventually, she could snap them with a quick tug.

The marine captain stepped back to recollect himself as Zoro went to Luffy, cut his bonds, and steadied him with a hand on his good shoulder.

There was a kind of intensity exchanged between the two, unspoken as it always had been. Luffy steadied himself by grabbing Zoro's arm with a bloody palm. His eyes, blank, focused, with hidden danger like smoldering coal.

"Get it out," he said.

His swordsman held his gaze. "Luffy...we should wait."

"Do it."

Zoro did- before Sunny or Sanji or Nami can stop him, he grips Luffy's shoulder, Wado Ichimoji enters the wound and with a swift twist, blood spurts from the wound, Luffy's grip on Zoro's arm shakes and Zoro pulls out his red-tipped katana out with a seastone bullet balanced on it.

It plinks to the ground and Zoro's sword arm lowers numbly. Sunny watches his captain take a few ragged breaths before pulling himself back to his feet.

He turned, cracked his knuckles and faced the marine captain, fury written on his face, landed the gum gum pistol he'd been unable to before, soundly cracking his nose and loosening a few of his teeth, throwing him back into the railing.

But now Sunny had chewed through Vivi's ropes enough she could break them.

"Thanks." Concern was still written in her face and voice. "But what is this other ship?"

On one side of the Merry was the marine ship that had just pulled up. A minute ago, they had been securing the Merry with ropes and planks and now they were being pushed back on their ship by the cook and swordsman. On the other side, another ship had pulled through the mist.

It wasn't a ship Sunny could remember having seen before until he noted the low yellow base pulling up to the other side of the Merry. Had that been the ship on the horizon? Had they gotten to that ship in the end? He hadn't even had the time to consider what had happened in the window between him passing out and waking up on the rowboat with half the crew. The holes in his memory gave him an uncomfortable itch as he realized how in the dark he was.

Standing at the bow of the yellow ship was a tattooed man, Law, katana tucked into his folded arms as he looked at the other two captains.

Luffy snapped back a kick. "Hey Tra-guy!"

Law sighed. "I thought it smelled like a trap when we saw a Marine ship a mile from your ship. But looks like you've got it handled, Mugiwara-ya." Law's cool gaze shifted to the Marine captain, smoothly drawing his katana from under his arm and looking at the marines. "And we've got you outnumbered." Behind him, the Corazon pirates drew their blades as well.

The Marine captain clutched his broken nose and scrambled for his ship. "Retreat!"

* * *

 **You guys didn't really think Law would have such a short appearance did you?**

 **Next chapter going to be non-action based to balance out the recent combat chapters. Thanks everybody and let me know what you think!**


	18. Electric Fishmen

**Celebrating 300,000 words on fanfic! Onto the adventure!**

* * *

"Captain Shimi's retreating!" one marine shouted.

"What do we do?" yelled another.

"RUN!" Over a dozen of the marines on the Merry climbed over each other in their rush to get back onto their ship after their captain, their vessel beginning to pull away before the gangplank was even removed.

Law and Zoro watched in amusement before Law hopped on Merry's deck. Sunny took the opportunity to sprawl on the ground, watching the new man carefully. He was still feeling sick and weak from the water exposure so he'd stay out of this new confrontation if it was an option.

The Merry was looking worse for wear, guardrail cracked and splintered in place, gouges in the deck, even a few snapped planks sticking up from the floor.

"What happened here?"

"We got attacked by a massive sea monster!" Usopp said, unable to even exaggerate the events. "Though I think we should be asking the question here, fur-hat weirdo! I'll have you know I am-"

Law looked at Nami, raising an eyebrow. "I assumed you were exaggerating about the sea king. I guess you weren't."

Usopp started to protest but Sanji jumped in first to defend Nami's honor. "The only thing exaggerated about Nami-swan is her great beauty!"

"That's a bad thing, shit-cook."

"No it's not-I'm simply saying that she's more beautiful than anyone else out there-"

Nami waved Sanji off, "It was a gyarados. It's...a lot to explain but there's some very strong creatures out there smarter and stronger than what we're used to. Sunny's actually one of them, like I was saying before."

Sunny didn't remember Nami saying so before, so it must have been while he was unconscious, he noted uncomfortably, eyeing the Marine ship disappearing into the fog.

Then Sunny realized Law was looking at him and gave confused head tilt as he approached, crouching down in front of him. He couldn't be a bad guy if he'd helped them and most the crew seemed to be on good terms with him.

"Qui?"

Law reached out and put the back of his hand against Sunny's forehead before he could move back. He relaxed against the hand in exhaustion when he realized how warm it was. He saw still far below his normal body temperature.

"Its temperature is up, a little warmer than a persons', seems like its recovering," Law said. "Also," Law added, moving his hand up to look at Sunny's face, "it's very cute."

Luffy crossed his arms and nodded. "The cutest thing I've ever seen." Zoro and Usopp behind her nodded in agreement.

Sunny sweat in confusion, repeating his earlier question (uselessly). _"Have I met you?"_

Zoro figured he understood the question and jumped in. "We ended up on this guy's ship. He saved your life."

Sunny's mouth went into a little 'o' and he nodded _"Thank you."_

Law's brows rose again. "What an interesting little creature," his lips quirked into a smile though Sunny got the impression he was a hard man to get a reaction out of. Speaking of under-reacting, Sunny had to wonder why everyone was acting like it was normal for a bear in an orange jumpsuit to be watching from the man's ship. He didn't look like any pokemon Sunny had seen, and judging by Law's interest in Sunny, could it be a normal bear? "Care to explain a little more about your little friend and that sea beast while I'm here?" Law asked.

"Oh, mystery animals? They can be really big or really small like Sunny and-" the smile faltered on Luffy's face as he stumbled slightly before catching himself. Sunny hurried over to him, putting a paw on his foot and looking him over. His wound was still bleeding considerably, likely reacting poorly to his Devil Fruit and he looked pale, which was so foreign for Luffy's normally tan skin.

"I can help with that," Law said, holding up his hand. "Room." A translucent blue aura spread out around them. A needle and thread pulled its way out of his pocket and flew over to stitch Luffy's wound. They looked on in surprise as Luffy looked shocked and but not in pain as the needle expertly sewed the skin and a gauze patch covered the injury.

"Ah-that feels a lot better, Tra-guy!" Luffy nodded, gingerly moving his arm back and forth.

"Don't rip your stitches if you really don't have a doctor on your crew. You need to be vigilant about avoiding infections or opening wounds," Law scolded. Luffy just laughed.

 _That doesn't sound like something Luffy would worry about,_ Sunny noted in amusement. Sanji herded everyone to the kitchen for tea before the discussion could start, Law intrigued enough allow it.

The verbal Strawhats gave Law a rundown of the pokemon they'd seen.

"They mostly seem good-well, two out of three-gyarados, Sunny was trying to talk with it but it wouldn't listen." Usopp recounted. Sunny gave a grim nod.

"And they're either really little and firey or really big and watery," Luffy nodded knowledgeably.

Sunny shook his head vigorously. _"Luffy, that isn't right at all."_ Still, Luffy had a knack for finding patterns, probably connected to his uncanny ability to figure out a strategy to fight his enemies.

"Uh, another thing-" Usopp looked like he doubted Luffy's statement as well, before shooting Vivi a nervous glance, "-something the Marines said...the Marines know about them too now-there's a five million berri bounty on Sunny or any other elemental creature's head."

Sunny gulped nervously. How much did the government know about pokemon then? They had to at least have encountered them, if not captured one, to know. How many of them were out there? That in one month they'd encountered two of them?

"Sunny, is it really like elements? Like earth, water, fire, air?" Usopp asked, he had a large sheet of paper and he was starting to scribble furiously on it.

Sunny frowned. There were so many questions he couldn't answer-pokemon came in all varieties, he wasn't sure why he'd limited it to four types. He explained exactly that.

"What did he say?" Law asked after a beat.

"We don't know," Usopp said as Law brought a hand up to massage his forehead, "Sorry, Sunny."

"So in the meantime, we assume they can look like anything but are brightly colored and have strange abilities which seem to be weather-related." Sanji set steaming cups of tea for the group before taking a seat himself.

Luffy suddenly sat up straighter and faced Sunny. "Can some mystery animals use lightning?"

 _Yes, a lot of them,_ Sunny confirmed with a nod.

"What? Lightning too?" Usopp said, pencil moving furiously as he worked on another section of notes. "Maybe it isn't water, but storm? That's probably more-"

Sunny had had enough, he was feeling sick and they were just getting farther from the answer! He snatched the pencil from Usopp's hand. Sometimes it was one step forward and two steps back with these people! Four weeks and they barely knew a thing about his world! He could count on one human hand how many times they'd correctly understood even simple words he'd spoken without charades! He literally fumed a little at the thought.

He took the side of the pencil in his mouth and held both sides in his paws so he could adjust the direction. Then he circled the water, ground, flying, electric, and fire symbols Usopp had drawn, and added his own.

A circle with two lines near it for bug; a zigzag that ran off the edge of the page for grass; a heavy scribble that made him drop the pencil for dark; two lines symbolizing an espeon's tail for psychic; a rough oval for rock; a three-pointed star for fairy, among others. He'd drawn them big so some of them overlapped.

Finally, the fire-type pulled back, dropping the nibbled pencil and flexing his stiff forepaws, pride gleaming on his face. He'd really outdone himself this time.

"Quil?" Why did everyone look so confused?

"Ok, so I think Sunny's trying to say that there's other types that we're not thinking of," Sanji summed up finally as everyone looked away from where they'd leaned in to try and decode his drawings and Sunny huffed.

"Wait, Luffy, any reason you mentioned lighting in the first place?" Zoro asked.

"Yeah, I saw two funny guys on the execution stand in Loguetown standing on a roof. One of them made that lightning hit."

"Whaaaat?" Nami and Usopp chorused while Zoro and Sanji looked stunned, and Law intrigued though he couldn't know what Luffy was really talking about.

 _"_ _What did it look like?"_

"What do you mean by funny?" Nami pressed.

"Well they both had robes on but one looked like a normal guy and the other guy was really short." He gestured to waist level. "And blue and his mouth stuck out so I could see sharp teeth and maybe some white on him, it was hard to tell."

The room exploded again. "That's clearly not a human at all!" Sanji yelled, exasperated.

"I thought he was a midget fishman, or the other guy was just really tall," Luffy reasoned. Nami hit him on the head.

"AN ELECTRIC FISHMAN?" she yelled.

Holding his head in pain, Luffy looked at Sunny. "Does that sound familiar?"

 _"_ _I...I don't recognize that description, but maybe?"_ Sunny gave a hopeful shrug for them to understand.

"That was really important information to keep from us," Nami scolded.

Law stood up from the table. "Alright then, keep an eye out for anything weird and powerful...if it's not trying to kill me, maybe I can help it." He said, looking at Sunny, who gave him a grateful nod. "Right," He slung his katana over his shoulder and opened the door to the deck. "Thanks for the coffee."

Luffy followed a moment later, trailed by Sunny. "Hey Tra-guy!" Luffy said to Law, who had just jumped to his hsip. He turned around. "I'll see you again before I get to the end of the Grand Line."

Law smiled slightly. "Maybe you will, but only if you find a doctor for your crew." He started walking away as his crew readied their boat. "I hear Drum Island has an impressive old doctor. See ya, Mugiwara-ya."

Luffy crashed not long after that, while Nami, Sanji, and Usopp manned the ship, keeping a look out for gyarados. Luffy stumbled into his hammock to sleep off the injuries and exhaustion from the water and Sunny climbed in right after him, still ailing from the sea and just getting warm enough to begin to shiver again in earnest. He nudged himself under Luffy's arm and the two were out like a light.

Sunny woke up midday, fur ruffled, and let out a big yawn. By the way his body protested when he jumped down from the now-empty hammock and a headache nagged the back of his skull, he wasn't feeling 100%, but still better than he'd expected following yesterday's events. He nosed his way up through the trap door.

 _"_ _Good morning!"_ Sunny chirped his greeting as he jumped onto the deck. He blinked, the ship was notably quiet though everyone was up from yesterday's events- Nami looked stressed AND Usopp's brow furrowed as he worked on a temporary patch on Merry's rail. Even Luffy was slumped lazily along the other rail, fishing with his good arm.

Sunny couldn't help but sweat slightly. _The atmosphere is really heavy..._

Sunny went to the kitchen and Sanji pulled out a covered plate of food; double portion of fresh vegetables, pan-seared with a tangy sauce and a small side of bacon drizzled with chili sauce. Sunny thanked him with a squeak before digging with vigor as Vivi sat at the other end of the table, head in hand, swirling a cup of cooled tea.

"Yeah, sure," Sanji said in way of Sunny's thanks, lighting a cigarette.

 _What a funk,_ Sunny thought. He could feel the negative energy in the air around his crew. Though he couldn't blame them. They'd hit a particularly brutal losing streak-the ambush at Whisky Peak, the gyarados ambush, the Marine ambush...that was actually a huge amount of ambushes. Sunny was used to losing, due to his size, inexperience, whatever it was, so his small victories recently had almost seemed like they were given to him-mistakes made by his enemies rather than his own strength.

It was clear the rest of the crew was taking it hard, though. Sunny finished his breakfast and went outside, laying on the bench and trying not to be unsettled by the gloomy mood.

Finally, Luffy abandoned his fishing and got up, walking over to where Usopp was working. The long-nosed boy looked up at his captain in mild surprise as his captain stood in front of him. The bruises on Usopp's face were visible on his tanned skin.

Luffy's face was slightly grim compared to his usual countenance as he crouched in front of his friend, bandages peeking out from his shirt.

"You really protected all of us yesterday, even when they captured you, and you're fixing up the Merry too. You're a really brave guy, Usopp," Luffy's intense look shifted into a smile as he laughed. Usopp's eyes widened and a blush bloomed across his face.

"It wasn't-It wasn't anything-I knew I had to protect our secrets and the princess, so it's nothing I haven't done before several-no, dozens, of times! The Great Usopp would take any amount of punches to protest those under his protection, it was-" Usopp's words cut off as a familiar straw hat was placed on his curly black hair.

His mouth worked up and down a few times in shock as he saw the bottom of Luffy's smile from below the brim of the straw hat.

Finally, he managed a "...Luffy..."

From his place against the railing, Zoro smirked. Nami leaned against the rigging, a pleased smile cresting her face. Sanji leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen, taking a long, relaxed exhale of smoke before going back inside to prepare a fitting pirate lunch for his stupid, charismatic captain and crew.

Just like that, the atmosphere returned to its usual cheer.

The two days later, the crew was fully recovered, ready for adventure (minus Usopp's debilitating I-can't-go-on-that-island-itis) and eager to arrive on the next island at dawn the next day.

Breakfast was back to its usual lively affair-everyone tucking into a delicious breakfast soufflé. Nami, however, was fuming, causing Sunny to avoid eye contact guiltily.

"Is something wrong with your food, Nami-swan?"

"No, the food's fine, Sanji. I just didn't sleep well last night."

"Huh? Were you lonely, Nami-swan? Next time just call my name and-"

"No thank you, Sanji," Nami interrupted, turning to Sunny coldly. "Do you want to tell them?" She asked quite hypothetically.

"Quiiiil..."

 _*The previous night*_

 _Sunny had been napping on Nami's bed after dinner but he must have been more exhausted than he thought because when he woke up, it was the middle of the night. He'd been scooted over slightly so Nami could curl under the covers. Sunny stretched and yawned, wondering what he'd do now that he was awake and ready to play._

 _Well, it's not like he could wake Luffy up so he could play chase or bite-nose, so he settled down to see if he could sleep again, curling up against Nami's stomach, listening to her soft breathing. It wasn't often he got to see Nami being still, she was such an animated person, it was strangely calming._

 _Sunny's eyes widened into circles. Not six inches from his snout was a long, many-legged hairy bug with wrinkled brown wings and twitching mandibles. It stared at him, making its way across the covers._

 _Sunny snatched it up and swiftly dispatching the intruder to protect his dear friend. He tapped Nami's shoulder to wake her up so she could accept his gift and maybe thank him._

 _Nami woke up to see her small crewmate standing over her, red irises reflecting from perpetually squinted eyes, a massive, still-twitching bug in his mouth, inches from Nami's face._

 _Nami's eyes widened._

Munch-munch-munch-munch-munch-munch-munch-munch-

 _The hairy bug disappeared into Sunny's mouth like paper into a shredder. Nami's eyes bugged out._

 _"_ _GYAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

Nami fumed, arms crossed, giving a glare at Sunny, who sweat, still not completely sure what he'd done to inspire Nami's ire or get kicked out of the girl's cabin in the middle of the night. He didn't know how the others could stand being the target of Nami's anger-he'd more or less pledged a life of perfect behavior until Nami relented with a sigh, sensing the sincerity in his attempt at communication. That was enough to calm Sanji down again too. They understood Sunny's heart, even if they barely ever understood a word he said.

From there, the conversation drifted to something less related to him-pranks they played as kids, a conversation no one was surprised Usopp dominated, but Nami's hands weren't clean either. She was a conniving a kid as she was a teenager.

Finally, breakfast was being cleaned up and Sanji stopped before taking Sunny's plate. "You left some vegetables. You need to make sure to eat those so you can grow up strong."

Sunny jumped slightly-he'd been so immersed in the drama and conversation he hadn't finished his meal, he gave Sanji an apologetic tilt of the head and a whine before gathering up a pawful of carrots so Sanji could clear his plate.

Usopp had pulled out a small wrench and was inspecting it for dents and looked up from his tool with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Will he?"

Sanji paused. "Will he what?"

Usopp gestured to Sunny, who was holding a stack of baby carrots, a couple spilling from his paws as he gnawed on the tops of them.

"Is he going to get bigger? We've had him with us for five weeks and he hasn't gained weight or grown that I've noticed. I know we're pretty sure he's young, but maybe he's full size?"

Sanji looked down at the plate, wondering if he wasn't providing the right diet for their smallest crewmate. He plunked the dish into the sink.

"Are you gonna grow?" Zoro asked Sunny directly. Apparently, the topic had been deemed interesting enough for the swordsman to pursue.

 _How do I answer that? If they don't know about evolution, there's no way I can explain,_ Sunny thought. He did a kind of non-committal gesture before scratching his head with his paws in frustration. It was completely impossible to explain anything about himself or pokemon to them!

"Sunny doesn't seem to know," Nami said finally.

"Or he just can't explain it," Zoro said, "he could know what the once piece is and we couldn't understand him."

"Sunny! Even if you know, you better not say-even in Cyndaquil language!" Luffy warned. "And he's definitely a kid!"

Sunny sighed in relief. Luffy knew-somehow, Luffy always knew.

* * *

 **Poor Sunny is not a very good artist...(but he is a morning person.)**

 **Also, as some may have suspected, Sunny is blaming the crew for not understanding him, but he's particularly bad with communication from his side. Luffy is picking up a sixth sense for him though, and we'll just have to see if they can get better as they get closer as a crew.**


	19. The Land Before Time

**Thanks you, guys, you always blow me away with your kind reviews :) To answer a few questions I've seen lately, there are still 2 more chapters before we get to Drum, and Sunny isn't necessarily going to evolve in these next few chapters. Just trust me when I say I have some exciting things planned for Drum and Alabasta ;)**

* * *

The island itself was larger than Nami's was and was dense with massive, thick trees easily higher than Merry's mast. Sunny wondered what the view at the top of the highest one would look like. Maybe like Reverse Mountain's view? Was this one of the distant islands they'd seen at the top?

The crew worked to dock the ship and in no time at all, Sanji was passing each group a tied cloth filled with snacks.

"Alright, the plan is to explore the area and complete your individual tasks. Let's meet back here in four hours if we haven't run into each other by then," Nami announced. "Usopp and Sunny will be closest to the ship so if you run into trouble they won't be hard to find."

"Please don't find us," Usopp interjected.

"Right..." Nami intoned. "And Vivi-are you really sure you want to go with Luffy? He's going to be..." She mimed the 'cuckoo' with a finger to her head.

Vivi looked at the excited pirate captain, half hanging off the railing and gave Nami a determined look. "It's fine, I want too. I'll keep him out of trouble."

Nami put a hand on her shoulder and somberly said, "Vivi, no one believes that."

Soon after Zoro and Sanji sprinted off to see which of them could bring more meat back, leaving Nami, Usopp, and Sunny still standing on the Merry.

"Nami, what are you going to be doing?" Usopp asked.

She worried a rolled up map in her hands. "Well, I'm going to be watching the Merry of course, and I need to chart this island. So, I'll stay safe-I mean, I'll stay and finish mapping. You're doing the most important task on the island though, so don't mess up."

Sunny had never seen Nami map an island from the ship. How would she know how to draw the shape? Or size? But charting wasn't exactly something _he_ knew how to do so he let it slide.

"You just don't want to meet what beat up that massive tiger!" Usopp protested. But he was coerced quickly enough with more embellishment and threats in equal measure.

Finally, Usopp grabbed his bags and pulled a cloth-wrapped item out, handing it to Nami. "It's that project you requested a couple of weeks ago. It was a challenge, but nothing a master tinkerer like myself couldn't manage!"

Nami looked down at the wrapped item with stars in her eyes and jumped to hug Usopp. "You're the best! Thank you-thank you-thank you!"

* * *

Sunny and Usopp walked next to the coast for a few minutes, getting an idea of the island. It was no less monstrous from the beach, Sunny marveled.

"S-Sunny-do you think you hear a monstrous wail just now?" Usopp was clutching his slingshot, his knees knocked together slightly. "I think I just heard the dying screams of an animal in there. I-I think we should stay on the beach and wait until the others get back."

Sunny remembered Nami had trusted them with the most important task; he couldn't be convinced by Usopp's scary words. He could only hear cicadas in the forest anyway.

 _"_ _Nami is trusting us to bring back wood to fix the Merry, we can't turn around now,"_ the cyndaquil started.

"Are you lecturing me? Why do I get the feeling you're lecturing me?" Usopp asked. "The truth is healthy caution is one of the greatest weapons a warrior can possess!"

Sunny rolled his hidden eyes and pointed to a tree in the forest.

 _"_ _We can't find wood on the beach!"_

"Supplies? B-but we can find driftwood here so I'm just being strategic..." Usopp said lamely as sweat gathered on his forehead.

Sunny sighed before turning back to the forest. Usopp hadn't left him with any choice-he bolted into the shaded forest by himself, running through the soft, springy undergrowth that tickled his nose and made him glad of his lidded eyes. After a little while, he stopped, stood up to see over the grass and waited for Usopp to appear.

It didn't take long.

"Sunny wh-where are you little buddy? You didn't get e-eaten yet, did you?"

 _"_ _I'm fine, Usopp!"_ Sunny called, running back up to meet him. " _And you are too."_ Sunny gave him a pleased smile.

Usopp crossed his arms. "You need to stay close to me so I can protect you. A-anyway as I was saying, let's go further into the forest!"

Usopp led the way for a little while, tensing at the loud owls screeching in the dim light below the massive canopy. He collected a few sticks as they went.

Then Sunny felt something move in the underbrush in front of them and he froze in place. Usopp peaked out from behind a tree he'd scrambled to.

A rodent-like furry head poked out of the grass, whiskers twitching, fifty feet ahead of them. The creature had almond eyes and big teeth and light brown fur. The long, thin furred tail raised in caution. The rodent saw Sunny and tensed, mirroring exactly the same action Sunny had taken a second before.

It looked like this world's version of him, almost. The gerbil-like creature, while not a pokemon, was ten times the size it should have been. Sunny almost felt a twinge of comradeship well up inside of him.

At that moment, before the giant gerbil could sense or run, it was snapped up, devoured, and swallowed by a massive maw of a massive t-rex, who made quick work of the meal before setting its cold brown eyes on Sunny.

 _This world's me was just eaten!_ Sunny's fear sent him keeling over onto his back in a dead faint.

* * *

Sunny woke up again, shortly after, tucked under Usopp's arm as they sprinted through the forest, Usopp wailing as the t-rex roared a distance behind them. Sunny jumped down and immediately struggled to keep up with Usopp's panicked sprint.

Eventually, the primal roars ceased and Usopp stopped, Sunny panting on the ground.

 _"_ _T-that thing was so big,"_ Sunny gasped into wakefulness. He was _not_ having fun exploring the jungle anymore. He wanted to go back. Luckily, he was with Usopp, who wouldn't take much convincing. Nami would be harder to deal with when they returned empty-handed, but he was starting to think she didn't want to come into the forest in the first place. Hopefully, she would just be grateful Sunny wasn't gobbled up by the Jurassic creature, right? At least they'd tried.

 _"_ _Wait, which way do we go?"_

Usopp looked around with a start, guessing what Sunny was asking or simply thinking the same thing. "Wait, are we lost in this dinosaur jungle?"

"GYAAAAAAAA!"

"QUUUUILLLLL!"

Their new plan was to find the others as they trekked through the jungle, Usopp following close behind. Both tried to stay as silent as possible. If there was one extinct animal, there could be others and Sunny knew that at least one of them had a taste for large rodents.

Usopp found the thickest tree around them and climbed up to get a better view of the ocean, hoping to find their ship.

A few minutes after he went up, Sunny's back tingled where he sat, looking up at the tree. He set his front paws back on the ground, extending his senses. Heavy, lumbering movement, the same as before. Sunny scrambled for the tree after Usopp in panic but he couldn't do more than clutch onto the side of the trunk after his jump. He hopped down, looking frantically as the steps got closer. His eyes caught something. A nest of very large, blue eggs at a time.

Acting on impulse as the steps got closer and Usopp still wasn't coming down the tree, Sunny dove into the nest and curled up in a ball, praying the dinosaur wouldn't notice the extra occupant. Sunny was curled up, back facing the clearing so he was able to just barely see over his rolled-up side as another dinosaur, this one blue but otherwise similar in appearance, stalked out of the clearing, sniffing the air before approaching the nest. Sunny went stone-stiff when the dinosaur began nudging each egg to check them over. He barely resisted hyperventilating but forced himself to hold his breath.

 _Eggs don't breathe!_

When the dinosaur nudged his back, he rolled slightly, but he was curled tightly enough his legs or head didn't show.

The T-rex didn't seem to notice the new occupant but instead startled and held her massive tail protectively over the eggs as steps so massive Sunny must have mistaken them for the volcano or an earthquake moved just behind a cover of trees. He heard a shrill scream well above him. He couldn't suppress a shiver as its steps faded from sound, then feeling.

Usopp hadn't come back and that creature had walked by his tree, and the high-pitched squeal was a scream, a familiar one. His heart thudded uncomfortably against his tucked cheek. Was he hurt? Part of him thought it was impossible that he could be dead.

But Sunny knew better than that.

Those grim realities may have seemed so far away on the ship with Luffy and the others, where they would protect him from a stray sword or bat, but he could never forget how it really was. To be a pirate was to have your life on the line-only somewhat more than if he was alone in the dangerous world. _Even Luffy could_...he gulped.

Safety was not a privilege, it was earned. It had to be earned every day. His mind pulled him back to the ring of gunshots. Or lost. And in the wild, his own life was as uncertain as that giant gerbil's. He was out here, he was just part of the food chain. Only with more evolved natural defenses. But Usopp was an exception. He was the most like a mouse in his instincts. And it had been Sunny to force him to go into the jungle. The thought weighed heavily on his stomach, even more unbearable than the hot breath coming from the t-rex's snout as she settled. Just as she began to sit on her haunches to lie down, Sunny was moving, propelled by nervous energy, rolled off the nest, continuing the backward roll off a slight outcropping. On landing, he uncurled, turned on a dime, and charged in the direction the massive footsteps had disappeared.

Sunny was all too aware of the dinosaur clambering to her feet with a groan of surprise. By the time she was on her feet, Sunny was racing away as fast as his legs could move, a sprint he could only maintain for a few seconds as he moved faster than he should be able to. The t-rex saw him bounding down the grassy knoll and roared in anger and confusion, not pursuing.

* * *

Sunny had to slow down to a walk when he found himself going back into the denser part of the forest, which was a stagnant marsh.

Sunny sniffed in distaste but continued on, looking for signs of whatever had taken Usopp. He wasn't a tracker, so he wasn't sure what he was looking for, and the half-dried mud offered him no reading of motion. Sunny carefully made his way through, hoping desperately that he was still going the right direction, that Usopp wasn't hurt, that Nami was alright on her own.

The worst part of the marsh, Sunny decided, were the pests. His fur had attracted some burrs in the forest and he had to stop every once and a while to gnaw one off his paws and legs. Mosquitoes and flies were drawn to his body temperature like a beacon but a quick spout of fire took care of most of them.

Finally, he came across a massive footprint, one that looked like a human's except that it was over fifteen times larger than Sunny from toe to heel.

Did it have Usopp? Looking around, he could see dozens of broken trees and on further investigation, some of these swampy ponds looked to be made by something about the same size. The trees could certainly be the giant being's doing, was the marsh the same? Sunny's heart fluttered in his chest like a butterfree. Maybe he'd been too hasty, he should have looked for the others-

A distance away a booming gurgle chased smoke into the air. The volcano? If you had asked Sunny before, he would have thought the idea of volcanoes was genius. Now, he was stuck between very worried and severely irritated.

The footsteps came back, fast, and two-fold. Two giant human warriors rushed from either direction, sword and shield clashing in the destroyed marsh with a resonance so loud it turned Sunny's balance on its side, stumbling back until he gathered himself, even then the vibrations across the ground were leaving him helplessly confused. He meant to move back but he wasn't sure he was, with the clashing weapons, rumbling yells, and stomping feet it was worse than a confuse ray.

The giants only seemed to get bigger and he really needed to watch their feet as he was the size of one of their pinky toes.

Better said than done-colors stole past like the world was on a new axis and he was sure the liquid in his inner ear was boiling.

Each step was enough he was soundly pulled off his feet. He just did his best to move away and not in circles as the titans clashed. Eventually, one yelled out and fell back. Sunny could only sit down and watch the giant's shadow color his vision as he fell toward him. A massive slam sent him into the air and sprawling on his back in strangely long, straw-colored ground. It was a moment before he regained his sense enough to realize he was laying on one of the giant's hair and squirming to right himself.

A low groan came from the creature, a large grin on his face despite the blood, wearing a viking hat and a beard.

Sunny was lifted in the air between two fingers before he could escape. The pressure squeezed his ribs and he couldn't move an inch. His back fire blazed instinctually, spluttered out under his thumb, then blazed again before flickering out.

Sunny didn't dare struggle in the giant's grip after his attempt at fire. He couldn't move an inch, not even his head, his cheeks smushed between the tops of his fingers.

"GABABABA!" The giant rumbled. Blood trickled out of his mouth and nose. Sunny was almost glad his ears were covered to muffle the sound. "A small little mouse I've found! Funny, strange creature!"

The giant's fingers twitched slightly and Sunny had a moment to panic and for his life to flash in front of his eyes as he prepared to be crushed. He'd never expected to end like this, he wished suddenly, foolishly, that the last time he'd seen the crew, he'd known. That he could have given Luffy another hug, or eat another meal with the crew, or-

He took as deep a breath as he could manage in the tight hold. He exhaled. His was still held in the air, as he distantly saw the ground moving farther away. The giant was standing up, walking, with him still in his hold. He suddenly was ten feet from the giant's eye as he was inspected.

"My fingers hurt. Did you burn me? That sounds familiar," the giant said, eyebrows furrowing in thought.

He started walking, Sunny along for the ride.

The distance must have been considerable but it only took the giant, still maintaining an impressively gentle grip, a few minutes to stop in a clearing and sit on a massive felled tree with a grunt.

Then came what Sunny was least expecting, that is, after being nearly eaten by a t-rex and abducted by a giant.

"Brogy? Are you alright? What was that?" If Sunny had had ears, they would have pricked up in reaction to the familiar voice. He couldn't move his head at all, but at this point, Sunny was sure he could recognize her voice just about anywhere.

"Cynnn!"

It went both ways.

"Sunny?" She sounded surprised.

"GABABABABA! You said you were looking for a burning mouse, young warrior?"

Sunny felt himself momentarily upside down before he was placed on the ground in front of Nami and Usopp. It took him a moment to gather his wits, and after he had, he launched himself at Usopp's stomach, clinging onto his overalls, just to make sure he was really alive.

Usopp laughed jovially, patting Sunny on the head affectionately. "I was worried about you, too. When I climbed that tree, I climbed so high, Brogy saw me. He instantly knew I was a fellow warrior and brought me to his base to help him." Sunny knew better to believe that one-he'd heard Usopp's scream of terror. He turned to Nmai.

"Qu?"

"I was on the ship...charting and Brogy saw me there and grabbed me too." She gave him a scolding look. "He's got a bad habit of taking people, even if he doesn't mean to any harm. You could have gotten hurt too, you know!"

Sunny knew she was thinking about Zoro because he was too.

Brogy extended his pointer finger palm up to the pirates. "I know, ouch," he grumbled. The skin of his finger was a red and angry color that was likely going to peel in the next few days. Nami couldn't quite bite back a satisfied smile.

"Exactly like that," she said, even as she pulled out her canteen to soothe the burn.

Meanwhile, Usopp filled Sunny in on what had happened. There were two giants on Little Garden from an island called Elbaf. They both warriors, who had come to the island to settle a conflict between groups, and they'd been here, fighting, for 100 years. Every time the volcano erupted.

 _So that's who the other giant was,_ Sunny realized. A lot of the island was suddenly making sense to Sunny, but it still didn't help that the rest of the group was still out there.

As Usopp handed Brogy a comically large handkerchief to wipe the blood off his face, Sunny examined the giant's clearing. Brogy seemed to never have settled down, almost like he still expected to win soon after all this time, or maybe be just lived one day at a time, like Luffy.

Brogy reached for a barrel, one of the only items in the clearing. Sunny had a moment to wonder where he'd gotten it before the scent wafted past him. Smell was his second sharpest sense, but maybe human's weakest one.

Sunny didn't know very much about what Zoro called 'booze'. Sunny had learned at sea it could smell sharp, fruity, bitter, bright, sweet, or even spicy. He had never smelled a drink that landed on his palate sour and sulfurous. Sunny tensed, mouth opening uncertainty, the relaxed atmosphere he had enjoyed a second ago seemed ominous. Even over the natural ash on the volcanic island, it unnerved him. Like claws of Typlosion, squeezing his heart-not threatening, but as his inner self, Instinct. Instinct's deep red eyes opened.

The barrel rose up to Brogy's face, an orange circle painted at the bottom of the barrel-Sunny was already responding to Instinct's call.

He acted just a little too late.

 _"_ _STOP!"_

The giant lowered the barrel from his lips at the sudden cry. A burst of fire snapped up from the bottom of the barrel for a brief second before the barrel exploded into tiny pieces in every direction.

* * *

 **Usopp is probably up there with Luffy on how well he can understand Sunny. Luffy instinctually/with his unique haki, and Usopp because he listens well. Around the others, Sunny sometimes forgoes verbal communication entirely (which doesn't help them learn either).**

 **Let me know what you think!**


	20. Impressionism

**Sorry for the delay on this chapter! I've been working on story planning lately. I didn't know what I wanted to do to celebrate 20 chapters, so here's some fun facts as well as plot reminders. I'll do this every ten chapters so people aren't lost if they forget-**

 _* Sunny's family consisted of his mother and father, and his 3 siblings. Vesper the Quilava, Red the Cyndaquil, and one more sibling that hasn't come up yet._

 _* Sunny's temperature is 104 while awake but he cools to 98 while sleeping. Some of the crew find it unsettling._

 _*Pokemon_ seen _so far-Sunny, Laboon the Wailord, Red Gyarados, and a mystery pokemon who saved Luffy in Loguetown._

 _* Sunny came to OP world when he was about 5 months old, joined Strawhats at 6 months, and is currently 8 months (currently around preteen age-ch.4 has my pokemon age headcanon)_

 _* The Big Displacement occurred 3 months ago now, but other displacements have_ occurred _all over the world for the last fifty years at least. A pokemon is responsible._

 _*Per WhiteyWolf's request- Sunny is level 13 at the beginning of this fight. His Sp Atk IV is 29. He's got good speed but the rest are nothing too impressive. HP is 33._

* * *

 _"_ _Stop!"_

The giant lowered the barrel from his lips at the sudden cry. Sunny didn't have time to stop and rolled into a ball, back igniting while Nami and Usopp dove for cover, pelted by splintered bits of the barrel.

Brogy blinked before his eyes rolled back in his head, blood running from his forehead where a large piece of metal had embedded itself and he fell backward with an earth-shaking thud.

"BROGY!" Usopp and Nami shrieked, running over to him.

Sunny stood stiff. His vibrational sense and scent were momentarily stunned. But, why were there explosives in that barrel? He didn't understand except that it must have been foul play.

Then he heard the sound of laughter. High-pitched and giggly.

Sunny looked around the clearing for the voice. Behind him, Usopp confirmed Brogy was still breathing.

"Up here, little dinosaur," the voice chirped. Sunny finally spotted the figure-a human child, a girl, sitting in the tree, laughing and waving her hand.

"Come play with me! We can have a tea party...or we can do some painting!" She hopped off her tree, skinny legs bending easily on landing and pulled a giant paintbrush from behind her to the easel she was holding.

She looked at Brogy. "Didn't his mama tell him drinking's bad for you? Though it's too bad you made me detonate early, or he wouldn't'a suffered so much. This is realllllly no fun.

"I may be small but I'm really strong. Maybe you know something about that, little dino. But I've been training under our group's best agent for the last month, so you won't stand a chance against me."

She crouched where she was standing and started painting around her in yellow. Sunny shot an uneasy look back at his friends. _Was this the fight?_ She had clearly hurt Brogy somehow, but she was a child, and she didn't have any weapons humans tended to carry into battle.

She was just painting, and humming to herself as if she had forgotten the intimidating words she'd used just seconds before.

Nami and Usopp were still trying to wake Brogy. The girl finished her circle and smiled up at Sunny. "Oh, and my name is Ms. Goldenweek, sorry, I forgot!" She stuck her tongue out, knocking the side of her head lightly.

So she was really from that group Sanji had mentioned. The one from Vivi's island.

Her grin dropped as she pulled at her paintbrush, which extended to twice the length, reinforced with metal, and started to run forward, painting a thick line of black as she went.

Was she separating the field? Sunny knew that official pokemon battles sometimes had rules like this but it didn't seem to apply. The paint didn't smell explosive like the barrel, it didn't smell like anything. Still, Sunny darted around the field as she got nearer, salvaging the space between them, Sunny now facing Ms. Goldenweek, and behind her, Brogy, and his crewmates.

She was halfway done with her large circle when Sunny charged experimentally. After all, if a Smeargle could use a paintbrush as a weapon, this girl probably could too. She reacted with a jerk, dipping orange paint on her brush and splattering it outward.

Sunny stumbled off to the side slightly as fat paint drops landed on him, adding a new layer of bright spots to his body. Before he had time to roll in the grass to remove it, Ms. Goldenweek shouted, "Color Trap: Vermillion of Fire!"

Sunny's eyes widened as all the paint on his body combusted violently across his head and back. The tiny cyndaquil was momentarily knocking over, but hopped back up a moment later, pleasantly surprised he was a little singed, but otherwise just fine.

Sunny licked some of the still-burning orange fire off his muzzle. The rest of the orange fire combined with his back flame when he expanded it briefly. Ms. Goldenweek had taken his momentary distraction and put distance between them, now more cautious.

Her hands went into the bag at her back, pulling out a dozen of small orange balloons.

 _More paint?_ Sunny wasn't worried as she threw the paintballs, splattering orange paint on the ground like a mine field. If they became fire, he could take it. She barely managed to pull her hat down to take the brunt of an ember aimed at her head. She dropped the scorched hat with a pout.

"Sunny!" Nami had left Brogy's side and was running toward the fighters now. The orange-haired girl as she snapped together a three part blue metal bo staff in a fluid motion. It was surprisingly familiar to Sunny. Had that been what Usopp had been working on for the last week or so? It seemed sturdier than her wooden weapon. Sunny growled uneasily as she stepped across the unfinished black circle. He still didn't know what it did and she was much less fire-proof than Sunny.

Nami seemed to realize what she'd stepped on and crossed it more carefully with a determined nod.

Ms. Goldenweek giggled as the two both moved to surround her. He was almost exclusively a melee fighter. His only special attack was ember but it had no real power if she tried to keep her distance, and tired him out quickly. Sunny tested her again, charging forward. His skull buried itself a few inches into her stomach as she exhaled a pained grunt and fell on her butt a couple of feet back. The attack had been too swift, and she hadn't been expecting it-she hadn't had a chance. He jumped back in to try to bite her when she called out again.

"Color Trap: Betrayal Black!"

Sunny's mouth closed around Ms. Goldenweek's arm, he felt the force of his small teeth on her skinny arm start to involuntarily loosen her grip on the paintbrush.

He was dislodged with a whack across the nose that sent him skidding across the group. He blinked. The girl hadn't done it. It had been a flash of blue...

 _"_ _Nami?"_ Sunny called uncertainly, shaking his head to try and clear his double vision and eye-watering pain in his snout.

Nami's eyes were blank as she lifted her staff again, embedding it in the ground where Sunny had been a moment ago as he stumbled out of the way in disbelief. Nami was standing over Ms. Goldenweek and pulled her staff out of the ground with a shower of dirt. Her expressive brown eyes looked glazed and undereyes shadowed as she lifted her staff again.

 _It's not her._ Sunny knew instantly, with more suriety than he would have expected. He didn't know how Ms. Goldenweek could control her, or if she'd been painted on, but he was sure that's what had happened.

"Nami!" Usopp yelled. She didn't react. Nami prepared to swing down again as a pellet whizzed by her face, close enough to shift a lock of orange hair. Sunny didn't doubt that had been on purpose—the warning shot gave Sunny just enough time to retreat without getting hit and reconvene with Usopp. Nami stared us down coldly, staff firmly held in her hands.

"What did you do to Nami?"

"Big sis doesn't need you guys anymore, she's happy with me!" Ms. Goldenweek stuck out her tongue.

Usopp was sweating as he placed a pellet onto his slingshot again. Another second and his knees were knocking. "Nami, fight it! Put the climatact down!"

Nami's scowl grew but her grip remained on her weapon, blank eyes trained on the fire-type. Her thumb pressed a button on the climatact as she squared her feet.

Sunny tensed, entirely unsure what to prepare for. If he retreated and it the weapon had any range, he'd be an easy target, if he approached and it wasn't a fake-out, he'd take another hard hit.

"Nami, stop!"

Nami clicked the button down. Sunny tensed. A little bird sprung out of the top of the staff like a jack-in-the-box. Nami, Sunny, and Ms. Goldenweek stared at it, uncomprehendingly for a moment.

"Tch," Nami hit another button. Sunny was already moving, dodging a shot of soy sauce. He needed either to fight Ms. Goldenweek to stop the control or take Nami down without hurting her. What he'd done to have sleep powder at the moment.

Ms. Goldenweek tried to block with her extended paintbrush but Sunny went high, reaching out to grab the brush with his front paws as he pivoted. He didn't try to take it this time but used it as a base to deliver a double back kick to her face.

Her head shot back at the blow. Best part was she couldn't use her brush—but Sunny had miscalculated as Ms. Goldenweek's head came back up with a dark grin, blood dripping from her nose. One of her hands had left the brush, he realized too late she'd slammed it onto her easel and her small hand smacked into Sunny's side, sending him a few feet away. He righted himself well enough. He weight was his biggest obstacle, just about any force sent him flying. His back leg smarted but it wasn't the most pressing issue—the purple handprint was.

Of course she didn't need a brush! He hadn't been thinking, he'd just been fighting! In battles, trainers were supposed to watch out for that kind of thing. Not that pokemon _needed_ people, but with something complicated like unique powers and skills, pokemon's natural style of dodge, find a weak spot, and attack with three or four moves didn't cut it. As much as Sunny didn't like it, pokemon teams worked in his world because humans were free to plan and assess. They could cover type weakness and see things more impartially. He'd seen it on the occasion, trainers had come across his mother or father and tried to fight them. The trainers hadn't won, but some of them had been a good match. And in a world where humans were also strong enough to fight on equal footing, well, it was a scary thought.

"Color Trap—" The rest fizzed out like static, causing Sunny to look around in confusion. Other than the momentary static, nothing seemed to have changed. Usopp ran over to rejoin Sunny, pulling out another handful of pellets. "B-Broggy, a fellow warrior r-requests your aid!" he shouted to the unconscious giant.

Sunny turned back to Ms. Goldenweek and prickled and jumped back with shock. Her grin was demonic, terrifying, as she leered down with yellow eyes. She rose a hand, and four long, white-and-brown striped creatures at her heels split off with their famous swiftness.

Sunny's stomach dropped. Nami was brainwashed, Luffy was gone, and four linoone were darting around, circling them. How did they get here? Sunny's sight-his weakest sense-couldn't track them. They were so swift they didn't make a single disturbance on the ground. Sunny backed up against Usopp's leg, whistling a nervous warning.

"What?" Usopp looked confused. This miscommunication could be the end of them. Usopp would underestimate them if he thought they were just animals.

Nami rounded back on us, and I split off to deal with the four linoone, not happy about leaving Usopp with two opponents. By his protests, he wasn't happy about it either. He shot a rotten egg bomb at Ms. Goldenweek, whose eyes watered as she clamped her hands over her nose at the putrid stench.

Sunny did not appreciate her new status as a determinator as Usopp tried to parry her climatact with his slingshot, looking terrified.

Sunny did his best to stay clear of the linoone weaving and slashing around him. He tried a few embers at his targets but couldn't predict their movements as they darted away unscathed, much to Sunny's growing frustration.

Small scratches managed to cut across his face thin like whiskers despite their massive claws. _They were mocking him!_

"Sunny! Stop, come back over here!" Usopp shouted out. Sunny suddenly realized he'd been getting close to the black paint in the circle, actually, it looked like it was dry. He didn't have to worry about it, so he wasn't sure what had Usopp so frantic. Ah. Probably being outnumbered and having Nami attacking him. Dumb question.

He blew out another ball of fire and jumped to impede another linoone, who swiftly dodged out of the way.

Nami was increasingly frustratedly pulling one gag trick out of her staff after another.

All she to do is defeat her two weakest crewmates and this toy was making it impossible! She would give the sniper a hard smack for this later. While she tried to activate a disastrous, possible fatal, mode on the piece of tech Usopp had just today guaranteed would help her win any fight, she'd activated a tinny music box, a small Straw Hats pirate flag, and a pepper grinder.

Nami hissed, at her wit's end completely when she saw Ms. Goldenweek had taken the chance to sneak up behind the sniper, painting a slash of green paint across his back.

Usopp turned around, shakily, sweating. "W-wait, please d-don't—"

"How about a nice picnic?" Ms. Goldenweek sneered, shoving him onto his rear. "Color Trap: Calm Green! Color Trap: Burning Vermillion!"

Before Sunny could see the effect of the first color, a series of fireballs the size of the paint splatters across the field plumed upwards. Usopp had gotten close to several of them in his attempt to distract Nami. In a jolt of panic, Sunny realized that unlike him, Usopp wouldn't get out of it unscathed. He chanced looking away from the other pokemon, ready to try to help him if he was injured or playing dead.

Instead, Usopp's form emerged from the smoke, singed, a few pieces of clothes glowing with fading embers, and few burned spots on his arms and face. He had a lopsided grin on his face as he stared down Ms. Goldenweek. His shaking had stopped altogether, the bright green streak of paint clear on his back despite the soot.

"If you let my friends go now, I may even forgive you. If not, I won't be accountable for what happens next." He pulled a handful of caltrops from his pouch like a spike trap attack.

"No, why didn't my color trap calm you down? You shouldn't be fighting anymore!"

"I _am_ calm. I am the Great Level-headed Honorary Warrior of Elbaf!" And he threw the spikes at the girl's feet on the scorched grass.

Sunny backflipped away from a linoone who surged in with a fury-swipes ducking and dodging the quick follow up attacks. The sound of growling felt like it was boxing him in, making him increasingly more hesitant to attack outright. As soon as they got serious, they could cut him open. He could only fend them off with embers and hope his stamina—and Usopp—could hold out.

The sniper was holding Nami off with his slingshot as she tried to hit him or loose a special attack from the weapon. She was thinking she'd really rather have her wooden bo staff at this point. After inadvertently seasoning the ground again, her fingers found one last button she hadn't tried yet near the grip.

"Ah, the handwarmer! Good choice, Nami," Usopp declared proudly.

Nami growled and went for a swing instead. "This thing's useless!" Usopp noted the black on the bottom of her sandal as her foot lifted.

Usopp loaded a stink bomb and shot it toward Ms. Goldenweek, but it shot past her, toward Brogy instead.

"Are you really not going to hurt me, even with what you said, mister?" She jumped over the caltrops like she was playing hopscotch. "I'm too strong for that, I've been trained by our group's very _best!_ "

Sunny felt his attention keep shifting to Usopp and Nami, barely throwing himself out of the way of the blurring linoone. He landed with a thump, while the brown-and-white figure pelted off again to join the others. Just watching them move made him dizzy. He had to conserve energy, he was running out of fire breath and they didn't even look singed..

Sunny's stomach dropped. No.

 _No._

Really?

Not making vibrations in the ground, not taking damage, their attacks not hurting… the linoone weren't real?

One of them broke off to charge and he didn't move, rooted in place as the normal-type slashed through him as surely as if he were a ghost-type.

The paint?

 _The paint._

He looked at the handprint on his side and blasted it with prejudice despite the sunburn it would leave on his skin. The zagging pokemon vanished without a trace, leaving Sunny strangely bitter for a moment—the lin had seemed a large threat, but it made Sunny remember all the times he'd spotted them at the pond, scuttling off if mom got too close. In the cool season, the arrows on their fur thinned and they became almost completely white while the summer turned them more brown...

He shook off his thoughts of his first home. He had to get to Usopp—who was doing just fine, actually. He had a very uncharacteristic, self-assured grin for a battle. He thumbed his nose. "I'll show you the true spirit of Elbaf! BROGY!" As he pointed to the downed giant, Brogy suddenly startled back to life, sitting up.

* * *

 **Sunny's the type to fight what's in front of him and not ask questions, so he didn't quite notice... Did you guys? Let me know what you thought!**


	21. The Warriors' Send Off

**I'm so grateful to you all-this is now by my second most reviewed story! Extra long chapter to finish off the arc! I've been dying to get to Drum for reasons...**

Firefly **\- Thanks for the review! Sunny's most obvious side is a cinnamon roll fighter (he's about 10-11 in pokemon years) but theres some other stuff going on in that brain of his that hasn't been able to pop up very often because he isn't able to talk to the crew very much yet...just wait. :)**

Thomas Drovin, Gamelover41592, Engineer4ever, MAJORMATT1234, buterflypuss, Layla347 **&** Guest **\- thank you for the reviews and your amazing encouragement-I don't thank you guys enough!**

* * *

 _"_ _I'll show you the true spirit of Elbaf! BROGY!" As he pointed to the downed giant, Brogy suddenly startled back to life, sitting up._

"BLEH! It smells like rotten eggs!" He bellowed. He wiped some of the blood from his face and came forward on his hands and knees. He closed an eye in concentration as he examined Ms. Goldenweek. She froze stiff, barely five feet from his face. Her skirt ruffled from his exhaled breath. She looked a little worse for wear from fighting with Sunny, and sweating from facing Usopp, but the terror on her face cemented her loss.

"You're not the only one who blew up my keg, are you?" He frowned, then echoing the girl's words from before- "Little girls shouldn't play with explosives."

Ms. Goldenweek looked like she was caught between fainting and running though she quickly made up her mind, leaving a little girl-shaped dust cloud in her wake. No one followed—Nami tried, but Usopp reached out and tripped her with his leg, the force carrying her leg back clear out of her painted sandal.

She stumbled forward, barely catching herself with her hands on the ground with a groan. Sunny's eyes stayed trained on the smaller girl's escape, body tense.

"What..?" Nami's eyes still looked blank as she sat back in the grass in the middle of the painted and scorched field.

Usopp hurried over to Nami's side. Brogy lay his hands flat against the grass, chin resting on them as he watched his companions.

"Nami, are you alright? You're not planning on fighting us still, are you?"

She bit her lip. "No, I'm sorry. Sunny, Usopp- I didn't..." It had seemed perfectly logical to fight her friends, it's not like she had forgotten who they were, or even that they were going to set sail together, she still had wanted to defeat them. But what would have happened after that? Flashes of Arlong Park, both most recently and from her childhood keenly came to mind, enough to make her shoulders shake.

Then she felt a firm hand on her tattooed shoulder. "It's okay, Nami. There's no way we would let you or us get hurt here."

Nami blinked. "Usopp..."

 _Right!_ Sunny snapped out of watching the escaped Baroque Works agent and remembered the paint Usopp still had on his back. He took the folds of the fabric and balled his paws into it and sent a weak surge of fire to climb across the green streak. It was just enough to char the fabric and blacken the paint.

Usopp gave Nami a gentle smile. "The most important thing is that you're-GYAYAA I ALMOST DIED!"

Nami flinched back from the sudden change in her friend before huffing in annoyance, knocking Usopp's hand off her shoulder. "You're so uncool..." Then she stood up, wiped herself off and turned to face Brogy. "Are you okay? That girl tried to kill you."

"GABAGABA! I am fine, I didn't try to drink any because your very small friend was making a spectacle of himself! But I think we need to find your friends. Me and Dory's battle can stop for now to help you."

Nami nodded gratefully before going to pick up her dropped new bo staff before eyeing it with distaste. "Not that I'm not a little glad because of the situation... but this weapon sucks, Usopp!" She leveled an accusing finger at the man, only an inch from his nose. "Soy sauce and hand-warming functions? Seriously, you were going to let me go to battle like that? I'd definitely die!"

"Those are very situationally useful!" Usopp protested, then stood up straighter, rubbing under his nose. "Besides, I may have lied just a bit to you earlier."

"What do you mean?"

"The pressure plate near the grip, I told you it was a handwarmer so you wouldn't use it against us, but it's actually the rod's most useful feature!"

Nami dubiously pressed the plate. Out of the top came a _pop_ and a bubble, which Nami waved a hand through. It was a pocket of cold air.

"I know you were brainstorming something like a barometer feature, but I decided to go a step further. The left thumb grip creates cool temperature balls and the pointer finger grip..."

Nami pressed it, feeling the air. "Creates warm air pockets," she finished, a wry grin spreading across her face. The warm air bubble rose up quickly to meet the slower cool ball and they broke apart with a slight gust of wind. "You mean I can create..."

* * *

The three Straw Hats were holding on for dear life on his shoulder and moving at giant's speed.

Their plan was simple—find the other biggest guy on the island and assume Luffy had somehow come across him.

Brogy knew where to go to find his rival, and the island wasn't big enough to present too large a challenge.

Before long, Brogy was parting two massive palm trees like Sunny would underbrush to see the other giant, dark-haired, lean, and thin, laying on the ground.

"DORY!" Brogy shouted.

Sunny was focusing on the ground, where one enemy lay beaten on the ground and another had managed to catch Zoro and Vivi on a white platform. Luffy was engaged in combat with an opponent with strangely-styled hair shaped like a '3' and glasses.

Brogy lowered the three pirates to the ground and Sunny ran forward to Zoro and Vivi, who were half-covered with white stuff, which was falling around them. Sunny had never seen it himself, but it didn't take a genius for Sunny to link this with the pretty, white stuff his mom had called 'snow' in her stories.

Sunny was bounding over to the platform for his distressed nakama when Zoro held out a hand. "Stop! It'll encase you too!" His lower half past his knees was entirely encased in a solid white substance. The snow falling from the sky had settled and hardened in his air and shoulders and Vivi was in a similar condition. Zoro realized he'd moved and quickly returned to the cross-armed, straight-backed stance he'd been in before.

Sunny jerked to a stop, his front legs just making contact with the slightly squishy white substance. With a little difficulty, he pulled his legs away, some stretching and sticking to his legs. It was hard.

 _Is this…ice?_

He was a little surprised it felt a little warm, it hadn't been his impression, but he was younger then, and had probably misunderstood. But Sunny did remember that fire melted ice, his mother had definitely explained that. A quick breath of fire on each leg was enough to melt the ice in a tacky, warm liquid.

"Zoro quit posing, we're not going to become statues!" Vivi's voice was a little shrill.

His attention was momentarily diverted from Vivi and Zoro as Luffy dodged a blow from the man, who Sunny presumed was also a Baroque Works member, Mr. 3, and had a cast of the same ice on his arm. He was swinging it with enough force that he was momentarily driving Luffy back though the boy was more agile.

Nami and Usopp were watching carefully and arguing with each other, eyes darting to the wax platform. Usopp had rope in his hands, for what, Sunny didn't bother to try to figure out.

He took a few steps back, wiggled his butt and leaped onto the platform, which was starting to form a second layer like a cake. Even as light as he was, his paws sunk in slightly, but he moved fast enough he didn't break the surface tension and sink far enough to get stuck. In a few bounds, Sunny had made his way to Zoro and stiffly jumped onto his ice-covered shoulder, immediately scratching at some hardened ice behind his ear with a back leg. Then he realized it was also covered. And more snow was still coming from the sky above them.

 _I'm starting to hate snow,_ Sunny thought to himself, biting a paw so that the still-warm shell cracked-it was too slippery to stay on his shoulder without any traction. He gave his other paws a quick fire bath because this snow actually tasted really gross, and it melted away.

He felt Zoro jolt under him. "Sunny, do that to me!"

"What? No way, you'll get burned before all the wax melts!" Vivi protested. Sunny tilted his head in confusion. " _Not ice? Then why is falling from the_ sky _, Vivi?"_ Sunny's facetious observation was ignored.

"My other option is to cut my legs off but I may need them to fight, so this is the best option," Zoro shot back.

"You idiot!" She screeched.

"Wouldn't you do it if it was your people in danger?"

Vivi frowned but stayed quiet. Zoro took it as resignation. "Sunny, do it."

The quill pokemon nodded and jumped back down by the first mate's feet. His paws sunk a little faster now that his body temperature had risen but he held on to Zoro's wax-covered leg to prevent from sinking too far. He didn't aim his fire directly at Zoro. He needed to melt, not burn, and Vivi was pretty smart most of the time, so her concerns were probably legitimate, especially as Sunny wasn't sure how much fire a human could handle.

After a couple of seconds, the substance began to sweat opaque not-water drops. A few more seconds and the shadow of Zoro's boot began to show below the more filmy substance. Another stream of flame and Zoro pulled his leg out of the stretchy mess and balanced on his one trapped foot.

Sunny, sweating, moved to the other side to blast away at the other side of wax despite the rapidly growing feeling of exhaustion coming over him, leaving his fire shaky and volatile.

"It's not even that bad," Zoro grunted to Vivi, smelling more like burnt rubber and hair. "Do you want to try?"

"No way, just, no," Vivi said flatly.

Zoro shrugged as best he could, then turned his attention back to Luffy's fight. Sunny was halfway through melting the wax on Zoro's other leg when the ache in his throat worsened and he stiffened, trying to push past the discomfort. The ember in his throat caught and exploded in his throat, causing him to jump in pain and spew smoke and hot cinders as his eyes teared up from pain that led to dry hacking. He would have growled if it didn't feel like the last thing he wanted to do in his state. He'd made enough fire in his throat that it had been thoroughly covered in soot and caused a literal misfire and left him dizzy. And Zoro's leg still wasn't fully freed.

"You alright?" Zoro's brows furrowed. "Can you make any more?" Sunny shook his head helplessly, still heaving, a thin wisp of smoke still emerging from his nostrils.

"Alright then." Zoro's mouth set, bending over as much as he could and grabbing Sunny by his side and picking him up in one hand. "Hang on." He put his freed foot on the edge of the softened wax and pushed off on his toes. With a _splrush_ the wax disconnected and they fell off the platform face-first toward the wax-free ground.

Sunny felt strong arms wrap around him and a moment later, he was jarred, but not stunned by the impact of the fall. He squeezed out of Zoro's grip, coughing in exertion, unable to clear his throat from the irritated burn there. It was painful to swallow and hard to breathe without coughing. Frankly, he didn't have the energy to melt more of the wax covering the rest of Zoro's legs and upper body, or even to speak. And then there was the matter of Vivi…

Sunny couldn't see her from the ground but her blue hair had been almost fully covered so she would be hard to make out. How was he supposed to get her out? Usopp had lassoed her but Nami and Usopp were still arguing over what to as it turned out, Sunny didn't need to be alarmed. As Brogy brought Dory unsteadily to his feet. Luffy shot an open palm attack out against the Baroque Works agent, who blocked it with the block of candle wax on his arm. Luffy grinned wide, his fingers stretching with the momentum of his attack and wrapping around the durable casting.

"Gum Gum Smash!" Mr. 3's eyes went wide before his entire body went blurry as he flew in the air and was slammed into the ground of the other side of the clearing, unmoving.

No one moved for several moments, the sheer abruptness of Luffy's victory stunning the group. Sunny lowered his head and hacked to clear his throat, slightly relieving the discomfort and breaking the silence. Lesson learned: he wouldn't push his fire so far, or his target wouldn't be the only thing getting burned. His mother had always warned him that the first rule of any fire-type was to respect the element-if you couldn't you were just as flammable as what you raze. Fire was the predatory element, it could help but it could take away-and eat at almost anything indiscriminately. Sunny had burned himself and he'd burned Zoro. He hadn't been strong enough for his own element. He'd have to step back, be more careful in the future.

Dory leaned over and gave the twitching Baroque Agent a light flick, sending him flying through the forest. The wax around them began to lose its unnaturally strong composition and slough off Sunny, Zoro, and Vivi. And with the danger gone, Carue soon appeared sheepishly at the edge of the clearing.

"Well, this calls for a feast! Geya-geya-geya!" Dory laughed. They were already in Dory's clearing, so the two giants, with their temporary truce, began to set up a fire and prepare the meat Zoro had brought.

The Strawhats gathered themselves. Luffy looked bruised but not badly off, Usopp a bit scorched, and Zoro had to slip out of his boots and rinse his feet, which were already bright red and burned, while Vivi and Nami tag-teamed him with a loud lecture. The swordsman himself didn't seem anything but pleased with himself, and when the smaller crewmate took a meek lap near the three loud humans, he stopped arguing long enough to give him a satisfied nod.

Sunny couldn't help a small smile from forming on his face despite himself. Zoro had been willing to risk a lot to get free but had been trusting Sunny to help him all the same. They may have both come out of it worse for wear, but Sunny knew if things went badly, they could rely on each other to make a hard choice. And Sunny was nothing if not an enabler.

"Where's Sanji?" Luffy asked. "SAAANJIII!"

Nami turned to the rest of the crew worriedly "Has anyone seen him? Sunny?" They all voiced negatives and Sunny shook his head.

"We split off because he kept scaring off my prey." Zoro supplied.

"We need to look for him," Vivi said.

Sunny gave a hoarse whine in lieu of speaking. Nami seemed to share his hesitance. "I don't think we should split up again. If we look for him, it should be together."

The group went after him, telling the giants they would be back in time for the party. Zoro had to drag Luffy from the raw meat, but he calmed down eventually, announcing he needed Sanji to cook from him.

Fifteen minutes into the forest, Luffy shouting after the cook loudly enough to scare birds from underbrush, something caught the fire pokemon's attention. Sunny, feeling better, had designated himself 'rear-guard' for his sleuth and was looking out for predators when he'd caught himself scrutinizing the one bird left in the underbrush, obliviously pecking at a spot in the dirt. The bird was larger than most-but not uncommon for this island-with bland brown and cream coloring, a pink beak, and tufted eyebrows.

 _"Pidgey!"_ Sunny exclaimed with all the unimpressive volume a cyndaquil could muster, too surprised to worry about scaring it off.

The pidgey didn't fly away, though, just ruffled his feathers and tilted his head, calmly. _"Yes?"_ As if the encounter were only mildly interesting.

 _"Pidgey!"_ Sunny repeated, baffled, skidding to a stop a few feet away from him. The rest of the group had turned around now, watching in confusion.

 _"It's just—you're a pokemon, just a regular pokemon!"_ Sunny babbled. He'd only seen behemoth pokemon that could blast him into next week in the last five months. It was such a tremendous relief to just see one like him.

Pidgey blinked. _"You're standing on a seed."_

Sunny moved back, bewildered, and watched the pidgey peck at the ground for a moment. It wasn't uncommon for pokemon across species to converse, but there was no caution whatsoever in this strange flying-type. He'd never had a conversation with any of the ratatta he used to feud with when he and his siblings spent an hour digging their burrow open and every time the siblings would succeed, the ratatta would re-burrow in seconds, adults snapping at them as they went.

But pidgey were not prey for cyndaquil or their evolutions-they weren't worth the effort to catch. There was no animosity between them, pidgey simply avoided the potential issue by keeping a distance. And while pidgeotto braved their clearing for bug-types unimpeded, it was because the fire-types knew better than to try to catch the swift birds. There was a delicate understanding-somewhat civil, but careful, that this one seemed not to notice.

"Sunny, what are you doing?" Luffy called. "We can eat when we find Sanji!"

Pidgey finally gave Sunny a suspicious look. Sunny scrambled. _"I swear—I'm not going to eat you, I just haven't seen many of us…what's your name?"_

 _"Pidgey."_

Sunny realized he'd spent too much time with humans with a mental smack to his head. Naming conventions were quite different between humans and pokemon. Many species of solitary pokemon simply went by their species name—even trained pokemon did, if there weren't multiple of a species.

Pidgey flocked but mostly lived independently, so they wouldn't need other names. Even Sunny's sleuth used simple names to distinguish; Red, Blue, and Yellow. Vesper had chosen a new name for herself when she was older and her old name, Blue, was given to Sunny when he hatched. Names meant very little to pokemon—very little at all. Sunny hadn't even known what his parent's names were. But after he'd been given a name by his crew, they'd begun to matter to him—he'd begun to identify with a human word—his word—as abstract as it was.

Sunny turned to the crew.

"What are you doing with that weird sparrow?" Usopp asked, eyeing the pair, the bird only a little smaller than Sunny.

 _"This is a pokemon!"_ Sunny said, pointing to it, then himself.

"Oh, did you make a new friend, Sunny?" Nami asked, an amused smile gracing her face.

 _"Po-ke-mon!"_ Sunny explained, sharp with exasperation, _"-don't be condescending, you're the one who isn't understanding-_ pokemon _."_ Sunny lifted the pidgey's wing in emphasis. _"Magic animal! Elemental! Creature from another world!"_

Pidgey trilled in monotone, eyeing the scattered dirt abjectly.

"D'you think Campfire's saying he knows the bird?" Zoro pondered. Sunny quirked his head, then hopped up and down in excitement. _Close enough!_

"Or one of him?"

Sunny's hopping intensified. The pidgey had to hop with him a bit to avoid his wing being pulled.

"That can't be right, it just likes a like a normal huge sparrow on this island. It doesn't have weird colors or powers and doesn't look very bright." Usopp argued.

He stopped hopping, breathing heavily as he felt a brief moment of dizziness. Right, he was exhausted and his head hurt from where Nami had bunted him across the field. Sunny growled in frustration at the tinkerer, barely resisting going over there to burn the seat of his pants off, and he wasn't going to risk ember again. He'd let go of the pidgey's wing, and he was fluttering off at the sound of the low growl before Sunny could react.

Sunny felt a weight press down on his chest as he watched the pokemon disappear into the trees, one more puzzle piece of his own existence gone without anything to show for it. _Tch._ There were two pokemon that looked enough like the animals in this world to confuse the humans and he had to come across one of them!

Just then, another bird startled from the brush behind him, taking to the air with strong, slow pumps of heavy wings. Its prehistoric tail skimmed the air less than a foot above Sunny's head as it began to climb. Its blunt, toothed beak, feathery rainbow wings tipped with claws painted a strangely graceful silhouette. It was beautiful in a way Sunny had never seen before, even as its gravelly cry pierced the canopy.

"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRCHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPSS."

The small fire-type watched in wonder as the prehistoric pokemon vanished from sight. After a few moments, the crew understood.

"That creature…that had to be one, right?"

Sunny managed a slight nod.

"But then before-?"

Another nod.

"We really…don't know anything about you guys," Vivi said finally. Sunny nodded a third time, but a tired smile crossed his face. If they knew, it was a start.

* * *

The crew found Sanji in short order—he'd managed to steer clear of all the fighting somehow, and the evening was spent eating, exchanging their accounts, and for Sanji, fawning over his 'warrior princesses.'

It was strange, in a way, for Sunny as they hadn't fully defeated Ms. Goldenweek. And even if he didn't think she'd be causing trouble soon, it felt a little hollow; that she'd made Nami fight them and hurt Brogy and had gotten away. Sunny had burned to go after her-as surely as his mother had pursued and caught her prey-for what she did to Nami. Only the fear and guilt Nami had been radiating had stopped him. But he pushed the feeling aside; he had his sleuth with him now and in the end, everyone was together. He focused on that. And the giants knew how to throw a party, according to Luffy and Zoro. They ate, drank, and made merry.

Dory and Brogy clunked their barrels of ale together, grinning down at the pirates and the princess.

"For all your help, let us know what we can do for you! GABA GABA GABA!"

Nami smiled slightly, bringing a finger to her chin. "Well, there is _one_ favor we could ask of you two strong giants..."

They left Little Garden with a send-off fit for giants. As they bellowed goodbyes and words of thanks, the Merry set off from the coast. As they reached the first of choppy waves from shore, glinting scales snaked from the water, crimson and bright. Sunny's heart squeezed in the thought- _The Red Gyarados._

It rose out of the water, stitching a straight line toward with a raging howl. She had been waiting for them. She'd been waiting just out of the shallows with their ship in view to carry out her revenge-she leaped into the air, seafoam at her mouth. Luffy ran to the front, preparing to attack.

"Now!" Came Nami's shrill cry. A figure moved from behind the ship, standing up, his upper body rising from the ocean. He reached a hand out to grapple the serpent's tail, who trashed in surprise, twisting back toward the giant, but her gaping maw was only bashed back with Brogy's shield.

The Merry pulled away, echoing with shouts of encouragement as Gyarados bit down on his arm and he wrenched her away, Dory joining in the water as they tangled with her, grins wide and laughing jovially.

"GABABABABA-A BATTLE FIT FOR WARRIORS OF ELBAF!"

"GYA GYA GYA! FINALLY A WORTHY CHALLENGE FOR US GIANTS!

Sunny and Luffy very much wanted to see the end of the fight but Nami navigated the ship to safety, until the giants, and the sea beast, and the island blurred with distance. Usopp wiped tears of awe from his face as he shook himself out of it.

"So those are the true warriors of Elbaf," he whispered.

* * *

 **Oh man, almost left it at the pidgey, but it felt like a troll move, so I delivered. As always, thank you all so much for your reviews. I always keep comments and suggestions in mind, especially when you all ask for more pokemon! Don't worry-more are always to come!**

 *** Sunny's 'misfire' was a variation of Struggle.**

 *** Raticate and Pidgey are both pokemon that look uncannily like their real-life counterparts. Seriously, sometimes I don't know how those two passed muster.**


	22. The Crash of the Waves

**Thank you guys so much for your thoughtful reviews-I was so inspired I wrote 2 chapters and drafted all halfway through Alabasta in four days! This is also the longest chapter yet. Seriously, guys means the world to me.**

 **Had to add fluff in this chapter to balance out the rest of it. I got rather unexpectedly lost in Sanji angst? But he** ** _is_** **a top contender for most tragic backstory in the Strawhats.**

 **Why do we use the Japanese word 'tsunami'? Literally 'harbor wave'. Nami, of course, meaning 'wave'.**

* * *

With their log pose pointing to Alabasta, tension and excitement was palpable on the ship. Sunny even imagined the Merry was relieved to be heading towards their goal for the first time since Whisky Peak. They were all happy to be on the water again, even the crew's token fire-type. Being off the island and back on the ship meant more time for the activities he'd grown to love. One of them being napping in the sun. His napping spot of choice-like it often was-Zoro's head. Sunny had gotten more bold since the first weeks on the ship where he'd curled up next to the napping swordsman. After Arlong Park, Sunny figured out the swordsman wasn't nearly as scary as he seemed and he'd claimed the spot as his own, even going as far as climbing on Zoro's face to get there. If he climbed up carefully enough, Zoro wasn't even all that grumpy about it when he woke up.

Sunny's unusually deep nap was interrupted as Sanji kicked the door open from the kitchen with a tray of drinks and cookies and danced over to the lounging girls, doting on them as usual. Sunny smelled the most heavenly smell, that he couldn't help but climb down and track it into the kitchen. _Sanji's baking bread!_ He'd smelled it a few times but from what he could see of the oven when he sat up on the stool, it had just started. Oh, he wanted it now. Then he spotted the mixing bowl still on the counter top. Only one failed attempt and he was up and crossing the counter. He'd felt drowsy and off all morning but by the smell of it, this pre-oven bread would be just the pick me up he needed. Sitting up showed him that the bowl contained a large ball of dough set aside to rise. It smelled like dust and sugar in the way yeast smelled, almost buzzing as it worked in the dough.

Enticed, Sunny leaned forward enough that his weight brought the bowl on his side and he stuck both paws in to prevent it from the clattering to the floor. _Well, since I'm already here?_ He took a bite. It was weird and soft and fluffy and chewy and lightly seasoned. He took a bite, then another and within a fews moments, he'd eaten the whole thing and the bowl had tipped back with him in it. He really was tired. But content. Sanji sure made good bread.

The door opened and Sanji entered again, still grinning widely from his conversation with the ladies. He washed his hands and turned back to the setting dough. His eye widened. Inside the bowl was not the dough he'd been working on, but a curled up familiar red-blue-and-cream crew mate, sleeping, face covered in flour and dough. He fogged the stainless steel with slow, gentle breaths, like he'd tired himself off eating Sanji's work. He was...cute. Innocent. Cherubic.

Sanji snapped the wooden spoon in his grip. "SUNNNNNNYYYYYYY!"

* * *

Sunny was throughly sure that messing with Sanji's kitchen was not a worthwhile endeavor. He'd learned his lesson. He probably wouldn't do it again for some time. Sunny was sitting in the middle of the deck with Luffy sitting on his legs politely next to him while Sanji glowered at them.

"S-Sanji-" Luffy tried to start.

"No excuses, Luffy! Your bad habits have corrupted Sunny! You're the captain of this ship and you raid my fridge and I will not have this spreading to the rest of the crew-except of course the girls~"

"Shit cook," Zoro grumbled from where he was still sitting against the railing.

"Marimo brain!" Sanji growled, reaching out to kick him. The swordsman dodged and followed up with his own strike. Sunny sighed in anxious relief and shared a determined nod with Luffy as they slowly and carefully crawled away to retreat to their cabin until Sanji cooled down.

Yes, lesson learned- Sunny was not stealing food for at least two weeks.

* * *

Vivi was jumpy and nervous and Sunny tried to be attentive to her after he dared brave the deck again fifteen minutes later. Despite their initial feelings, Sunny had grown used to her on the crew, and she added some order and wisdom to the group. And she didn't get as violent as Nami when Luffy and Sunny's games got too rowdy or loud around her. Even if she could be stuck up and straight-laced, Sunny enjoyed having her around. But more than ever she was leaking tension and worry so Sunny wound up sleeping in the girl's room almost instinctually that night.

So it was by chance that he was the first to realize. When Sunny slept with Nami, it would be against the covers on her legs, or sometimes he sprawled on his stomach, Nami's arm between him and her sleeping form, curled on her side like she was still shielding herself. She let him be with her, but they kept comfortable, instinctual space between. And although they were close, it reminded Sunny that the only one Nami fully and unconditionally trusted was Luffy. He understood-he trusted his sleuth but if he slept as deeply and defenselessly as humans, his body may have acted the same way.

That night after leaving Little Garden, Sunny felt a hand reach and pull him against her chest with a shiver. Sunny tensed in surprise at the unexpected awakening but adjusted himself in her hold, sleep enveloping him much too easily.

He woke up again in the early morning when he felt Nami start to shiver again, and pull her blankets in closer, though the weather wasn't mildly cold, even by Sunny's tropical standards. Her breath hitched slightly. Sunny brought his nose to her face to sniff curiously. Her face scrunched up as his soft nose brushed against her lip and nose and her eyes opened.

"Sunny?" She pulled away slightly surprised and amused. "Morning breath, Sunny. Come on." They got ready, Sunny letting the issue slide as Nami got dressed, she must have just been having a good dream. Vivi had already gotten up and they went to the kitchen for breakfast.

Vivi had gotten a newspaper from a news coo, or what Sunny referred to as a "legged wingull." After that, the grim look on the princess's face didn't fade, even when Luffy's hijinks escalated through the day. Sunny wisely bowed out of the impromptu wrestling match between Usopp and Luffy he didn't have energy for anyway. He Nami as she looked out a the water, looking uncharacteristically lethargic. Maybe she'd had an unrestful night of sleep as he did. Even his breakfast wasn't sitting well with him and he felt like he could go for a nap, early enough in the day that even Zoro would balk.

Sunny waiting for a moment to see if Nami would acknowledge him so he could get a better idea of what she was thinking. She didn't react when he butted his head into her calf to try and get her attention, her gaze fixed on the horizon. From he height difference, he couldn't see the look on her face, but it didn't seem...right.

A pit of worry opened up in Sunny's stomach. He didn't know a lot about humans-not at all-but something was wrong. She didn't seem upset like on Cocoyashi, or just sleepy, she seemed similar to how Zoro had been acting before he collapsed in Arlong Park.

Sunny ran over to Luffy; the nearest person (Usopp had already 'lost' wrestling) and used the same words and body language he used on the rare occasions Sunny initiated tag. Luffy's eyes lit up with recognition at the request but Sunny was already hurrying back to Nami. Luffy joined a moment later, slowing to a stop in confusion. "Sunny, Nami probably won't play with us."

Sunny butted her leg again and she turned to Luffy, a flushed, dazed look on her face.

"Nami drank too much? But you don't look really good, are you hungry still?" Luffy asked, hand on his chin as he put his face a close to Nami's to inspect her.

 _"_ _I think she's sick,"_ Sunny put in, watching carefully. She looked like she was going to fall over.

"I'm fine, Luffy, I just didn't sleep well. I think I'll go to bed now..." She moved to take a step and stumbled. Luffy caught her easily, picked her up, and shot off to the girl's room.

"Sanji! We need food in the girl's room! It's an emergency! Nami's sick!"

* * *

In a few panicked minutes, everyone was gathered in the now-cramped girl's room, Nami sitting up, holding a bowl of soup.

Vivi's forehead was creased. "Why didn't you tell us you weren't feeling well?"

Nami leaned forward, a hand to her face partially covered by strands of hair. Sunny jumped on the bed to see her better. "I'm just getting a little sick, it's not a big deal. What's important is getting to Alabasta as soon as possible."

Zoro frowned. "With a sick navigator?"

"Nami-swan I know you could do it but it's dangerous to your health so take it easy while I nurse you back to health!" Sanji told her, still coo-ing but marginally more serious from when he first heard and kept yelling "I'll bravely take on your illness so you won't have to suffer, my darling~!" while rapidly cooking up the soup.

"But this doesn't feel like a regular sickness. Nami has a bad fever. And any illness can be very dangerous on the sea," Vivi stated.

Nami sunk further into the bed, soup half-finished. "It isn't anything serious."

* * *

Sunny crossed the bed and curled up by her upper leg. Nami had woken up long enough to drink some water but she had no real interest in the food Sanji offered, even the bread she'd complimented at dinner the day before. The look on the cook's face sent a needle through Sunny's heart. He'd looked lost and scared and young for a moment, then he smiled.

"It's okay, Nami-swan, you can have some later when you're feeling better."

Nami went back to sleep shortly after and Sanji took the uneaten bowl from the room.

The crew checked in then stepped out, pulling Luffy along, to talk outside the door after they had all gathered in the room half an hour later. Sunny didn't move from his spot at her side. Nami was curled in near him, shivering in her sleep despite the early afternoon warmth. Parts of the discussion outside the room Sunny made out, even without straining to listen. _Alabasta. Wait. Doctor. Soon._

They came back in, looks of agreement. Vivi explained to Sunny gently that they were going to find a doctor. Sunny knew what a doctor was, they were made to help people like Nami. Sunny tried to give Vivi an appreciative smile. He knew that finding a doctor meant some kind of risk to her people. This was the second time, after choosing to give up her cover, she'd selflessly chosen the Strawhats over herself.

"Alabasta is still a week away and that pirate surgeon mentioned Drum Island had an accomplished doctor," she continued. "So we're setting sail for Drum."

* * *

Sunny stayed by Nami's side, snoozing or lethargically watching the shadows move across the room as the others came in to quietly read or nap in the room in shifts while others tried to fill her role of navigator. The ship lurched and turned several times throughout the afternoon and heavy winds whistled against the porthole.

The sickness was completely out of his control. The only thing he could do was stay with her and try to keep her safe.

Nami woke up and was petting Sunny's head tiredly. She had a fever and not much energy to do much but sit up in bed. Neither of them left the room that day because the weather was rainy. Sanji brought in their food but even Sunny's stomach crawled at the idea of food and he didn't manage to eat as much in worry. Luffy eats more in his worry. He does his best not to be too loud in the room when he brings in his dinner to eat with Nami, Usopp comes in to ask thoughtful navigation questions, Zoro peeks in to ask her if she needs anything, and Vivi prepares her journals on Alabasta at the desk in the room.

Sunny sits quietly, remembering his anchor, his reason for fighting, his dream to find the one responsible for his mother's death. If something happened to Nami, there would be no one to blame or seek out. He couldn't bear that, too. Losing more family when he'd just realized he hadn't lost it all. He felt as if he couldn't bare one single loss more. Not one.

Sunny wondered if Luffy felt this way and it made him so strong. But Sunny didn't feel strong, he felt very scared, and very tired.

* * *

Nami flicked on the light to examine the sketched outline of her Little Garden map-she hadn't gotten the chance to ink it yet, but in the end, she only made a few careful adjustments before she was coughing and tiring and turned the lights off again to rest.

The cabin shifted a little while later, causing the rolled map to tumble to the ground. Sunny hopped down and replaced it in the drawer.

The next day went similarly but with more coughing and she was more exhausted and her fever still hadn't gone down, despite the natural remedies the crew had tried. Sunny was tired, partially from Nami coughing through the night and partially because he was so worried Nami would get worse and he wouldn't realize it that he'd jerk awake to check to make sure she was still warm. He had nightmares about lightning and gunshots, and a large, cooling form.

Luffy ate Sunny's untouched breakfast without noticing in his mad rush to eat his own and Sunny was too grateful to be indignant. He curled up to Nami's side again.

* * *

The crew upstairs fought the sail in heavy winds. Normally they'd raise the sail but doing so would mean the caravel would practically be at a standstill. They would lose precious hours. As the wind battered the sail, Zoro's eyes flashed around the deck to check on Sunny, the lightest of the crew, who had, more than once, nearly been carried off his feet by a stray gale. He caught the shit-cook doing the same instinctual search. But Sunny wasn't on deck, he was downstairs with their navigator, because she was very sick and they were all fighting for her life.

* * *

Sanji came by with Usopp with dinner and tea. Sunny drank his tea but didn't feel hungry enough to manage the food. Neither did Nami, who could barely stomach bread, to Sanji's silent pain and wetness in his eyes.

Sunny had almost lulled off to sleep when he felt Usopp's hand on his head.

"Have you noticed Sunny's been really tired?"

"He's worried like the rest of us," Sanji said.

The loudest thing from several moments was breathing, then Usopp agreed. "Yeah, you're probably right. He's been pushing himself to take care of her so of course he's tired. I'm just getting nervous. Drum is still two days away..."

"She'll make it."

The door opened, causing the two men to turn around to look at the swordsman who had casually entered the room. His eyes studied Nami's for a moment before he reached over and picked up the fire-type who had been laying with her, tucked him under his arm like he was pillow and left the room. He stepped back on deck, sat down in his usual spot and let Sunny scoot to the top of his head. Sunny knew he was being benched for a little while. Sanji and Usopp were with her, the could take care of them for just a few minutes... he was asleep faster than Zoro.

* * *

Sunny curled up at Nami's neck, snout draped over her to fend off her shivering. It was getting harder to do, especially because Vivi had warned him against making her too warm. When he came back into the room after Zoro's forced break, he'd seen Nami had taken a turn for the worse. He'd have to stay with her. He shifted slightly, pulling back as he felt her body temperature, rather than just her skin, rise a fraction of degree.

Vivi was on watch for Nami, and looked up from her notebook. "Did her fever raise again?"

Sunny bobbed his head in a so-so gesture. It wasn't enough for any of the others to notice, and she was hovering just below his own body temperature, so her fever had gone down some from the afternoon. Vivi nodded and sighed, glad for the short reprieve, but knowing it wouldn't last long.

Around dinner, they managed to coerce Sunny into coming out from the girl's cabin while Vivi helped Nami clean up and get ready for bed. Fresh air was nice and he felt some of the tension release to see the crew wandering the deck, going over plans, checking the log pose, shouting about healthy dinner, all a coordinated unit. Then he felt a light thunk below deck in the direction of the girl's cabin reverberate lightly through the floorboards. He was back inside and waiting at the door until Vivi opened it up again fifteen minutes later.

* * *

Nami hadn't woken up yet that morning but Sanji brought in breakfast for Sunny. He tip-toed in as not to disturb Vivi, who had just fallen asleep after her nightshift. The blond cook set down the tray in front of the shrew pokemon, whose left eyelid twitched slightly. Sanji knew his small crew mate well enough to know it was him opening his eye. It was still a mystery to him how that worked.

"Breakfast," he said quietly.

Sunny craned his neck to lap up some tea briefly before curling up again. Sanji shook him gently. "Hey, eat something, I brought breakfast."

Sunny gave a light sigh in warning. _"Sanji..."_

The tray was stubbornly scooted closer to him. It was a rice and vegetable omelet. The smell made Sunny feel sick. He could only stand the smell for a few moments before he got up and moved to the other side of the bed. Sanji watched, his mouth open. He felt cold sweat gathering on his forehead. _No, no, no. Not another. Not both of them._

Sanji got up, clearing his throat before picking up a few boiled baby carrots, one of Sunny's favorite treats, and walked around the bed. He crouched, and held one out to the cyndaquil, keeping the rising panic from reaching his face admirably. Because, no, there couldn't be two of them. Had Sunny eaten yesterday? Sanji was less and less sure the more he forced himself to try to remember. And what about the rest of the crew? Had they eaten enough? Had Sunny finished his food two days ago? He had been so worried about Nami-swan, he hadn't been thinking straight. It was a nightmare to relive his trauma by his dearest Nami-swan refusing to eat but the world had found a way to make it worse yet again. Two of his nakama. Beautiful Nami-swan and the crew's youngest and smallest member. And the rock in the middle of the ocean, and the bag of treasure while Zeff had given him all the food and- and Sanji felt horribly guilty for having eaten while his friends hadn't, like he was cheating him somehow and why should a cook eat when his crew isn't, it's an _insult_ -

And Usopp had mentioned something may have been wrong. With the absence of a doctor, the health of the crew was the cook's responsibility. He'd brushed the concern aside because Sunny hadn't had the same symptoms. Sunny looked exhausted though he'd been sleeping for days and weak and he wasn't acting like himself.

He offered up the boiled carrot a few inches from Sunny's snout. As far as foods went, this would be the most inoffensive, even with an upset stomach. "Eat a little." Sunny moved his head away before setting it down again. _Many animals will refuse to eat when-_ Sanji cut out that thought. Sunny wasn't like that, and he wasn't on a rock without food, so why wasn't he eating, why was he _starving_ himself. Did he want to waste away like Na- His voice was flint. "Sunny."

Sunny ignored him. Sanji stood up and stormed from the room, and returned a minute later, slamming the bottle of habanero sauce Sunny loved so much on the desk before spreading some across a carrot. When waved it in front of Sunny's nose he got no reaction except a small growl.

Sanji takes a precious moment to collect himself, pressing the sleeve of his suit to the his face with enough pressure that he left like he could ground himself and wiped away the sweat and dried the panic from his eyes. He wanted the moment when Sunny had stolen food just three days ago, he would take his nakama's hidden mischievous streak-that and when he'd mistakenly drank coffee and been more hyperactive than Luffy, happily over him denying a single meal. He arranged the blankets tucking Nami in gently. He steadied himself enough to stand and scooped Sunny up. He was out of the room before Sunny was weakly trying to wriggle free. Sanji didn't let him. He slammed the door open to the deck with a kick and strode out.

"We've got a problem."

"Another one?" Zoro groaned, hand running across his face. He looked to be on the ropes as much as the rest of the crew.

"Sunny's sick too. I can't get him to eat _anything._ I won't have two people on this crew not eating!"

 _"_ _Sanji, I'm alright, I just don't want your dumb food,"_ Sunny growled in irritation, knowing the cook couldn't understand him anyway and redoubling his attempts at freedom. He had a flash of the first time he'd met the crew, on this deck, running for his life while they yelled and tried to catch him. He felt bad, he needed to be left alone to get better. He wanted Sanji to let him go-the cook seemed to be banking on Sunny playing nice and not igniting, but there were other options for escape, he was sure of it.

The crew came over, inspecting their small friend.

"He feels warmer than usual." Usopp observed touching his forehead. Sunny stopped struggling abruptly at the hand covering his face. It felt oddly soothing, the cool skin and pressure of his hand blocking the painfully bright light.

Then the hand jerked back. "Do you think it's contagious?"

Zoro spoke up. "Nami was bitten by a bug, right? Sunny probably got the same thing, or else we'd all be getting sick, it's not a big ship. And judging by how dirty he was, he probably was in that marsh Nami said she got most her bug bites.."

"I don't know why we're just realizing now that he may be sick, though. Since he's smaller, I thought it would have effected him faster?" Vivi asked, biting her thumbnail.

Luffy's face was flat and difficult to read. "How long until we get to that island?"

"A day or two with good winds," Usopp said uncertainly. "But I'll check my math and Nami's notes again."

Luffy brought Sunny back downstairs and managed to convince him to have a few pieces of meat he'd torn into tiny pieces, making him Sanji's favorite person that day. Luffy hummed lightly, petting Sunny gently where he was laying on the boy's lap. "I don't want you to worry, Sunny. Nami's going to be okay and so are you, so you don't need to worry at all."

* * *

The ship's crew was up and alert before dawn the day they were set to land. Nami had taken another turn for the worse and wasn't lucid, even while awake. Sunny hadn't exhibited any other symptoms Nami had except for the exhaustion and refusal to eat more than a few bites of apple sauce when Sanji staunchly stood his ground until he did so.

Finally, they saw the island in the distance, the strange outline of an island with what looked like thick, massive pillars growing from it. As they got closer, something was wrong.

"Are those guards?" Zoro asked as they approached.

"I wasn't aware Drum Island had any sort of organized police or militia," Vivi said slowly. The crew cruised into the port on guard.

Once they stopped, three armed guards approached. Vivi, Zoro, and Usopp, and Carue, who were on deck while to dock the ship, watched them cautiously as the guards slowly sized them up and peered deck of the ship.

"Can we help you?" Zoro said finally, crossing his arms. His finger touched Wado Ichimoji under his arm, the only hint that he wasn't as casual as he was acting.

The guard raised his weapon. "This is the Whapol Kingdom you've arrived in, under the reign of King Whapol. Identify yourselves."

* * *

 **Let me know what you thought!**


	23. The Duty of the Tribute

**When I see Sanji's name I can't help think '3 pm' but apparently his name can mean 'tribute,' which...doesn't** ** _that_** **hurt?**

 **The blaze I mention is Sunny's ability, Blaze which increases fire-type moves at or lower than 1/3 health.**

 **Lastly- I did some sketches of Sunny and the crew as thanks for some of the reviewers of this story who have just been incredible! I didn't get everybody so I'll be doing more** \- h-t-t-p-s- :/ / imgur dot com /a/kH5tEtJ

 **...or if that's too much of a nightmare, my name is RavenWingDark on that site, it's called Be Merry Sunny Sketches 1.**

* * *

"This is the Whapol Kingdom you've arrived in, land of King Whapol. We weren't expecting a ship this morning, identify yourselves immediately." The guard demanded, raising his gun but not yet aiming it at the crew.

"This isn't Drum?" Vivi demanded anxiously.

"No, this is Whapol Kingdom, formerly Drum Island. You clearly aren't well-informed. What are you, merchants? Where's the rest of your crew?"

"We need a doctor, we came here to see him." Usopp explained, pushing aside the nervousness of the situation.

"We have a doctor but it's going to cost you and you'll have to be detained until you are brought before King Whapol to grovel." The second guard said a sick smile creeping across his face as he beckoned several more guards who were hanging back to the dock. Zoro grit his teeth. Vivi and Usopp looked at each other uneasily, agreement flashing between them. "Where's the rest of your crew?"

"It's just us. We lost the rest of our crew. The Grand Line was more treacherous than we ever expected," Vivi said neatly.

Sanji, standing against the door to the deck and listening in, stiffened. He'd heard 'King Whapol' from the corridor and gone on guard. Royalty wasn't something he'd easily trust, especially one that wasn't a beautiful princess. He walked back into the girl's cabin and scooped Nami up in his arms, stinging with misery that he wasn't doing this under better circumstances. "We're going out the back, we can't be seen." Sanji told his captain. "They're going to try and keep us here. We need to find the doctor ourselves."

Luffy grabbed Sunny. "What about Zoro and the others?" Luffy asked stubbornly.

"They're not the ones who need the doctor. Vivi-swan will keep them out of trouble."

The two head out the back door. Under ordinary circumstances, heading through the water would be the stealthiest option ordinarily but none of Sanji's companions would be able to handle it. The only option was to sneak around the dock in the foggy morning air. As Usopp noticed them moving around the ship, his story became much grander and verbose and the pirates were able to run into town undetected.

The air was cold in a way Sunny hadn't experience before, stealing away his drowsiness enough for him to gather what was happening. He hopped out of Luffy's hold and dove into his coat before scrambling back up so his head could stick out and sighed in relief.

Luffy reached out to touch Nami's forehead and his frown deepened dramatically. "We need to start knocking on doors!"

"No, that will attract too much attention. We still don't know what happened to make his Whapol Kingdom instead of Drum. The way the guards were talking, it happened recently, and they're charging for the doctor's assistance, which means he may not be freely living in town." Sanji slowed to a stop, transferring Nami and Sunny to Luffy's back gently. "Wait here, I'm going to see if I can get more information. Remember, Luffy, number one priority is Nami's safety, number two is also Nami's safety, number three is Sunny's safety and number four is everything else."

Sanji darted around the corner, crumpled his suit slightly and mussed his hair and began to walk in the opposite direction he'd come, just in case. He couldn't help but notice the clear damage to the town, boarded up windows, pieces of glass, broken signs, even a few buildings that had various levels of fire damage.

An older woman with an empty wicker basket was walking his way. Sanji gave her a smile. "Oh, Miss?" He inquired. The woman jumped in surprise, as if she were nervous but on seeing him, smiled back, a light blush on her cheeks.

"Oh my, sorry, I thought-well, it doesn't matter."

"Not a worry, Miss, I just was wondering if you could help me. I hit my head on my way home and I'm not sure if I have a head injury or not. Do you know where a doctor might be?"

"Oh dear! Are you really alright? Well, no one's seen Doctor Kureha since King Whapol returned and she retreated to the Drum Rockies, so I wonder if he's forced her into the Isshi-20 like the others."

Sanji tilted his head, not having to play at his confusion. The Isshi-20? Was that a group of doctors? "And the injured in the fight?"

"Well, the worst of the injured, they've been mysteriously treated each night, and it's not her because she always demands to be paid for her services. Knowing what I know about our doctor, she won't agree to King Whapol easily, though, so I worry. She hasn't come down from the mountain since the Whapol returned." She continued, more quietly now, leaning in.

Sanji took a moment to make sure he was still looking bewildered and confused like he may have a head injury. He inwardly cursed himself for deceiving a woman, but this would be for the good of his crew and if they got Whapol out of the way, she would be better off as well. He could do this. He tightened his fist, nails digging into his skin. "A-and how many days ago was that? I just want to make sure I'm remembering correctly."

"Oh, yes. Well, it was three days ago. Three long days ago," she broke off somberly.

"Right, that's what I thought," Sanji said, looking up at the distance rock formation in the center of the island. "She's all the way up there?"

"Yes, Drum Castle. A beautiful building, she lives there now so I wondered why he had his military march up there the other day..." She broke off as if realizing she was freely making conjecture, and gave him a sad smile, and touched his cheek gently. "Sorry, I should be going. It's safest if you just go home and hope you're somehow healed while you sleep, dear. And leave the question-asking to Dalton. " And the older woman walked away.

Sanji huffed, lit a cigarette and exhaled for a moment to recollect himself. Luffy, unable to wait any longer, appeared from around the corner with his charges.

"The doc's not in town, Luffy. She's at the top of that mountain." He looked at Nami, morosely. There was no way she could make it all the way up. Maybe if Sanji alone went to get the doctor and Luffy hid with Nami...

"Nami, Naaaammmiiii, wake up!" Luffy had turned his head around to look at Nami and was slapping her cheek.

"LUFFY!" Sanji gasped in outrage as Sunny's eyes visibly opened in surprise.

"Wake up, now Nami, we'll have to climb this mountain, we gotta hurry, so you're gonna hang in there right?"

Sanji grabbed Luffy's hand to stop him from smacking her anymore but he saw that Nami's brown eyes were opening. She was breathing heavily, face flushed deep red, but she had a small smile on her face. "C-come on, c-captain, let's g-go." She reached out and grabbed Luffy's hand for a moment before releasing. Luffy grinned ear to ear.

"And you, Sunny?"

 _"_ _Ready,"_ Sunny said, pushing himself farther in Luffy's coat to try to get warmth, and only his nose poked out from Luffy's coat.

"Yosh, you guys are the best crew ever. Let's go!"

Sanji smiled slightly despite himself. No time to waver now. They had to climb that mountain. And they had to keep Sunny and Nami safe while doing it. He breathed in, looking down, then exhaled, flicking the cigarette and looking up with a look of determination. "Alright, then. Let's climb a mountain, captain."

* * *

Sunny jerked to awareness when he realized how cold it had suddenly become and that it was now snowing. Snowing for real this time, not Mr. 3's wax. It is pretty and falls from the sky slowly and it's bitterly cold. Sunny wants to enjoy it from afar. Soon, he gets worried about Nami's warmth and jumps from Luffy's coat to Sanji's shoulder, tucking himself back between Nami and Sanji and radiating warmth with renewed focus. He even felt Sanji relax slightly at the sudden warmth at his back as he trudged on. Sunny realized he wasn't sure why they were in all this tundra rather than a town they'd been in earlier but Sanji and Luffy must know what they were doing and were going to get Nami help as soon as possible.

Sanji was explaining to Luffy how women of winter islands had the most beautiful skin because the snow dyed their skin white and it was soft because they rubbed it to stay warm so he hid better between Nami and Sanji to prevent looking like one very strange looking cyndaquil.

"I'm gonna kick Whapol's ass after Nami and Sunny are cured," Luffy said.

"I'm behind you if they get in our way captain, but this looks like a complicated political situation, we shouldn't bite off more than we can chew before we know what we're up against." Sanji pointed out. Luffy stared at him blankly as the continued trudging in the snow. The trees were becoming more scarce as they continued.

"But Sanji, I always bite off more than I can chew, you just got to swallow it so you can eat more."

Sanji bit back a sigh, thinking that the implications of Luffy's statement fit him in more ways than just eating.

"Sanji, why is the ground moving like that up there?" Luffy said suddenly, pointing at distant movement a little further up the mountain. They felt a faint vibration at their feet. Before Sanji could think 'avalanche' he noticed that the white moving shapes came with muscular furry bodies, bunny ears, and sharp teeth.

"What are those?" He demanded. "Sunny? Are they-?" Sunny raised his head to look at the approaching figures as Sanji and Luffy took defensive and offensive stances.

Sunny shook his head quickly. _"No, those aren't. I don't know what they are."_ But they kept approaching at full speed.

Sanji looked to Luffy. "I can't fight without hurting Nami, do you think you can hold them back?"

Luffy cracked his knuckles, loud in the freezing weather. In moments, the lapahns were close enough to have attacked with a gomu-gomu no axe attack. Startled, they split off, quickly becoming indecipherable from the snow in Sunny's vision. Luffy worked on beating them back though he didn't seem as limber in the cold weather and his movements and stretching it stiff and slow. Sanji maintained a smooth, slow jog in the snow while his captain moves the giant rabbits back and darted back in time to block an attack Sanji couldn't dodge in time, throwing the arctic creature away. Sunny couldn't help but think its body type wasn't unlike his parents' powerful builds. They couldn't be underestimated.

But the creatures keep popping out of nowhere and the snow has gotten much heavier that even Sanji was having trouble watching where he was going and they hadn't made it to the base of the sheer mountain yet. Just as Sanji stumbled, another was on him, intent on the slower target. Sanji froze as he resisted the urge to send a flying kick its direction and instead positioned himself to take the brunt of the hit. Luffy kicked another lapahn a foot into the pack snow and turned around to shout the cook's name, arm already stretching again.

The lapahn's maw of sharp teeth neared Sanji. Sunny stepped across Sanji's shoulder and reached out as once it was within reach. The small creature's mouth bit down hard on the lapahn's muzzle with ferocity and strength the cyndaquil didn't look to have in his mild, tired expression. He let go of Sanji's shoulder and took a deep breath. Then he exhaled flames as strong as he could make them and they escaped his mouth, blasting across the lapahn's face as it screeched.

Sunny dropped heavily to the iced snow, not heavy enough to fall through, facing off the creature who was holding its burnt snout in pain. All the lapahn were now starting to jump and stomp in place.

"Sunny, stay back! You can't fight in your condition," Sanji immediately protested, trying to bend down to scoop Sunny back up. Instead, Sunny ignited his back. It sputtered for a moment before coming to life. Adrenaline had hit him. He felt fine for now. It would only take a minute. Luffy was still fighting. Between the two of them, they would drive them off and the four of them could get to safety. Fire melts ice. He would strike back if only he could balance properly with all the shaking in the ground.

"A-AVALANCHE!" Luffy yelled. The ground moved below their feet and the numbing sound that almost resembled crashing waves.

They barely had a chance to run as the snow quickly overcame them. Sunny knew his and Sanji's wild charge away was separating them from Luffy, who was kicking away the fleeing lapahn that got too close to the group but the panic settling Sunny's heart kept him running as far and as fast as he could. It wasn't enough of either-the sound of crashing sound got louder, the ground shaking and vibrating so much it dizzied Sunny's senses, and there was white above him, he felt himself being tossed head over rear in powdery white-ness over and over again until he felt his head connect with something cold and hard.

After that, he was only distantly aware of not flipping, because he still felt like he was. It took him nearly a minute to realize he'd come to stop because of it. He twitched each of his legs and felt them sluggishly respond and he shifted. There was heavy weight above him and white all around. His warm breaths reverberated back to him quickly. He was buried.

Sunny managed to push the hard packing snow around him up enough to stand and used his nose and front paws to tunnel to the surface. It was a few feet of a climb but hardly challenging, even with the aching pain in his head, exhaustion and cold in every limb. His head broke the surface and he had to screw his eyes shut for a few moments to adjust to the reflecting light on all the new snow. Actually, he wasn't as cold as before. He very much didn't feel well, but his fire had risen to the occasion, blazing back to life inside of him, providing a barrier against the cold that his short fur wouldn't have. Sunny registered that it wasn't as much of a positive as it should be. He stumbled onto the ice and snow mix, which crunched but didn't bow under his weight. His breath was heavy and emitted steam like he was readying a smokescreen. He longed to snuggle back into Nami's coat.

 _Nami._ He jolted back to awareness and began retracing the path he'd tumbled as best he could, dipping his nose into the drifts to pick up his own scent trail. His shaky legs had only taken him a fourth of how far he'd fallen before he noticed how low his stamina had gotten. He was huffing and panting and pausing to lift a paw for a moment until his body could return warmth to it.

That's when he felt a twitch several feet beneath him, as light and as instant as a hop from a field mouse. He jumped in shock and the only reason he didn't bolt instinctually was the light-headed sensation he was feeling. So he started digging, expertly pulling up large sprays of snow with each paw stroke until he caught sight of Nami's coat.

His nose twitched in anxiety and excitement and he redoubled his effort and widened the hole.

 _They have to be alright..._ In a minute he'd uncovered Nami and Sanji's unconscious forms but no matter where he dug near them, there was no scent of Luffy. He must have been separated from them. Sunny reached over to shake Nami. _"Time to wake up!"_ Nothing, Sunny moved to Sanji and jumped on the cook's chest several times before stumbling off and into the snowdrift, belly up. _"Oh Articuno! Abombasnow's left fist!"_ Repeating every icy curse he'd heard from his father as he rocked back and forth to momentum to get back up and to his friends. He was sweating, was that normal, or was that just the snow he'd melted? He couldn't tell at this point. He wasn't even really sure why they were out here anymore. Or why the background trees and mountains seemed to be spinning slowly around them.

 _"_ _Sorry, you're not giving me a choice!"_ Sunny reached out and bit Sanji's nose. The chef flinched but didn't wake up. What was that pink snow near his head? It was like someone had spilled wine back there. Had the cook been carrying something like that? Why were they out there? Why was he trying so hard to wake them up? He stared out into the snow for a moment, then two, before gathering his wits again. _They'd die if they stayed out here._ They looked pale and snow was starting to cover their coats and hair.

Sunny grabbed Nami by the back of the coat and pulled as hard as he could but he couldn't get any traction in the snow, his paws only creating small trenches and bumping into Nami's coat. Finally, he sat, winded, on the navigator's chest.

Where was Luffy? Luffy said he would keep them safe, where _was_ he? They weren't safe right now, they were laying in the snow.

No matter what he did, he wasn't strong enough to move them. He wasn't big enough to cover them and keep them safe. He heard stories about pokemon having amazing strength in moments when everything had gone wrong but he still felt like the soft, clumsy, eighteen-pound cyndaquil he'd always been. And this, without a doubt, was when he needed strength the most, freezing in the snow with two of his beloved sleuth hurting and another missing. He shivered and his back fire re-ignited with blazing energy. It was all he could do. He pushed warmth outward. He could keep them from freezing for a little longer. Until Luffy found them.

Snow melted and streaked down his face. His head swam, desperately searching for a head of black or green hair, but there was nothing but snow. Minute by minute as Nami's breaths quieted despite Sunny's best efforts to keep her comfortable.

He had just surged his fire again when he saw a lean brown figure in the distance, something bright sitting between a pair of antlers. It was upwind and in the steady snow the cervid was too blurred to fully discern. It stopped, stared, then slowly began in their direction.

* * *

 **I'm making another set of sketches so more people can be included. And if you have a favorite moment, let me know and I'll see if I can sketch it!**


	24. The Rise of Windward Sails

**"** **Luffing" is a term used in sailing to mean sailing with a headwind. Seems like too much of a coincidence for Oda picked it randomly, but maybe's there's a Japanese word that fits it better?**

 **I know there's something a lot of you were looking for that isn't going to happen in this chapter, rather once everyone has a chance to talk. As always I thank you all for all your amazing support!**

* * *

Sunny recognized the stantler-like creature as a reindeer as it came closer. It bright thing was a bright pink hat. _My fire drew its attention,_ Sunny thought with a start. Because he had to dig to get to his friends, they were almost two feet below the snow drift. He wasn't sure if the deer had seen the fire itself or the steam it created hitting the frigid air, but he snuffed his fire, lying flat against Nami's stomach. The air around them immediately became biting again and he began shivering in earnest. If the other wildlife was as aggressive as the lapahn, he had to be more careful. He lay there, trying to sense the deer's movement and wait it out, but he couldn't sense anything until it was feet away in the snow.

Sunny jerked up in time to see the deer slow its half-trot and stare at the three of them with widening brown eyes. With a small puff of smoke, the deer disappeared and was replaced with a smaller one, that stood on two legs, wearing the same pink hat and a red scarf. It reminded him a little of a teddiursa, but was it replaced or had it changed?

 _"_ _Ditto?"_ Sunny asked. The mystery creature gave him a sad look.

"It'll be okay, I just want to help," the tiny bipedal creature quickly checked them over, checking temperature and pulse. "She's really sick! She needs a doctor right away!"

Sunny moved onto Sanji, still too stunned to react with hostility, or anything other than watching with incomprehension as the bipedal reindeer panicked before catching himself, with tapping one hoof into the other with realization. "Oh right! I'm a doctor! Okay, I can carry her to the top of this mountain to get her to the castle! But I didn't think I can carry all three of you without a sled...Well, I can't. I'm sorry, maybe if-no but it would be really dangerous because they can't hang on..."

Sunny shook his head, reaching out to nudge Nami's limp hand. Her fingernails were blue. He pointed with his nose to the towering pillar-like mountain above them. _"Sanji would kill me if I let a chance to get Nami to safety go by. I'll find...a way up."_ Sunny finally said.

The deer's face flicked with confusion, surprise, then worry. "You're telling me to bring her up? I can usually understand animals but... B-but I should really bring you along, I can tell you aren't suited for cold weather..." He fretted.

Sunny ignited again, ignoring the numbness that expanded through his paws in response of channeling his blaze outward. The bipedal creature stumbled back in shock before gathering himself. Then he untied the scarf around his neck, touching the ground in his smaller form and bundled it around Sunny, avoiding his fiery back. Then he changed back into a reindeer, shifting Nami onto his back with careful maneuvering.

"I'm heading to the top of the mountain. I'll bring her to safety and come back for you two as soon as I can." And he ran off, Nami on his back, into the snow.

Sunny felt oddly empty. It had been his duty to protect Nami and now she was gone. He didn't doubt the deer's intentions, but he didn't know how much time Nami had. But he couldn't worry about that now-not when Luffy was gone and Sanji was still down.

He clung to Sanji's suit so tight, he felt as if his paws felt as if they were frozen there. He was shaking from pain in his head, exhaustion, and cold, his head rested on Sanji's neck to listen to his slow pulse. All he wanted in that moment was Luffy to appear and smile and say that he had everything taken care of that they were gonna get Nami and set sail. _Luffy, Luffy, Luffy!_ He thought as his eyes closed.

* * *

The next thing Sunny knew, he was opening her eyes to see a familiar face with a scar. Sanji was being lifted onto Luffy's back and Sunny being picked up. Luffy's face was scared and urgent. "Nami? Where's Nami?"

 _"_ _He brought her up,"_ Sunny murmured. _"Up."_

Luffy's eyebrows pinched. "The castle?"

Sunny nodded. Luffy nodded back, mouth setting in determination. It was the look Sunny remembered seeing only moments before he kicked ass. He put Sunny on his shoulder. Sunny was burning as warm as he could manage and Luffy sighed in relief when Sunny burrowed between Sanji's head and the back of Luffy's neck.

They were climbing the mountain.

* * *

It wasn't long until Luffy and his charges made their way to the mountain. It was a sheer cliff and went straight up until it disappeared in the snow-filled sky. Sunny saw it go up and up and up and thought there was no way to do it. But Luffy tied Sanji to his back with a length of rope, resettled the scarf to cover Sanji's neck and Sunny, and pulled himself onto the rock wall. He moved his hands upward again and again, traversing the iced handholds, or stretching in the absence of them. It was slow, and the higher they got, the more the wind howled. Five minutes into the climb, Luffy kicked his foot into a crack and clung to the side panting, pulling a hand away and clenched and unclenching it.

Sunny pulled himself out of the scarf and very cautiously leaned forward on Luffy's shoulder. The fire-type didn't look down, he imagined he'd see nothing but a white, shifting void, but he felt unsteady already, he didn't know what looking would do to him.

Luffy's eyes shifted to him. "Cynda." He ignited his fire. Luffy grinned and held his hand at his back, near the low-burning fire for ten seconds until he sighed in relief, shifted his grip and did the same with the other hand.

Then they were heading skyward, Luffy blinking snow from his eyes, Sunny maintaining enough awareness despite his confused state to burrow under the scarf and come back out whenever Luffy started to slow or his pain seemed to worsen. Eventually, the fire seemed not to grant relief at all. Luffy didn't stop after that point, and kept climbing. The cliff was steep and smooth with ice at this point and several times, Luffy had to punch handholds, which wore on his endurance. But when Sunny looked up, he saw a change from the icy gray stone, light gray of the sky, not fog, but an edge. The end, within his view. It couldn't be more than thirty or forty feet.

 _"_ _Luffy, we're almost there."_ At the same moment, Luffy's head lulls, and his grip fails, feet skidding, as if he had started to lose consciousness. Sunny nipped his captain's ear hard, he jerked and dug into the stone. _"Don't give up now!"_

Luffy shook his head and kept going. A little while further, and Sunny could see bare branches of a tree. Ten more feet and the edge was nearly within grip. Sunny couldn't tell if Luffy had even noticed in his single-minded determination to climb. His hands were shaking hard now and his fingers weren't listening to him and scraped off the rock, he lost his foothold.

 _So close, too close, can't fall_ \- Sunny grabbed the spare end of the trailing rope tied around Luffy's waist. His leap forward had him kick upward against a tiny divot in the weathered wall with the same burst of speed he used to quick attack until he jumped the threshold of the mountain, spun and tugged on the taught rope.

He immediately began to drag, lock-jawed on the rope, until he was leaving skids all the way to the dirt and sending spoiled snow off the edge in his effort to hold. His toes touched the uneven edge of the cliff and his eyes burned from the bitter updraft whistling up the cliff. Luffy's hand moved upward. The wind carried his heavy, wet gasping, eyes glazed with exhaustion. "Cynaaaaaaqqqqquuuuuiiiiiiiiilllllllllllllll!" Burning limbs shaking, paw pads scraping against the edge as he fought to move back, Luffy's hand latched onto the edge. Then the other hand, and elbow, and the pressure disappeared from the rope as he pulled Sanji and himself to safety. Luffy lay a few feet from the edge, laying on his stomach, panting, Sanji still unconscious on his back.

Sunny looked around for the mysterious deer. He said he'd be here, waiting for them, hadn't he? It was nothing but a jumble of thoughts. Had those been his instructions? He didn't have the energy to keep anyone warm anymore, not even himself.

Luffy weakly struggled to pull himself along and Sunny did everything he could to pull them forward but the numbness made him stop where he was, and watch a moment, hopeless. No panic, no fear, he just watched Luffy's fingers inch slowly to try and drag himself further, breaths harsh.

Sunny started to walk again, this time alone, away from the edge. He didn't look back. Even with Sunny's staggering steps, it wasn't long until Luffy was out of view anyway. The snow wasn't melting off him quickly anymore. He did his best to walk in a straight line, but in the snow, if he reached another cliff edge, he wouldn't know until it was too late. Then his nose was inches from a heavy metal door.

Before we could do anything to gather himself, he felt a hoof on his back. The same blue-nosed reindeer on two legs. Sunny had been convinced he'd just gotten his fourth wind but as soon as he processed the unassuming figure who took Nami, he tried to open his mouth to speak. Everything went quiet, even the howling wind, and he tilted forward into the doctor's fur. The little arm immediately wrapped around him and he felt vibrations, like the creature was talking-a lot.

Then the arms suddenly filled out like he was being held by a very muscular, furry human and he felt the wind disappear as he was covered. The creature was talking still, now jogging.

 _Luffy, Luffy and Sanji are out there. Luffy won't make it._ Sunny wasn't sure if he managed to speak out loud but he felt more vibrations from the creature and being shifted. There was maneuvering as well, and dragging, for how long, Sunny didn't know as his consciousness faded.

* * *

It must have only been for a second because the next thing he knew, he was waking up. He felt colder than before, but in the end, he'd felt numb and burning. The air was sharper than cooking vodka. And he was covered in bandages, laying on something soft and moving...

He opened his eyes even as the movement around him provided a muffled image.

The strange human reindeer was holding him in one arm and measuring ingredients with his other. He didn't notice Sunny until he squirmed, then he nearly dropped the beaker he was holding. "Oh, he moved-thank goodness!" Then like he suddenly remembered something, is voice got quiet, almost nervous. Sunny felt himself get shuffled and a large hand touch his forehead. "Temperature's coming up, too! Good. I was really concerned when you weren't responding!"

Sunny closed his eyes, trying to concentrate past the pounding behind his eyes and the numbing weariness that came with so completely overusing his abilities. He didn't think the dryness in his throat would let him speak, even if the reindeer could understand him, even if he had words to say.

He couldn't recall-just glimpses of the figure-it talking to him, maybe evolving, and Sunny was left alone in the cold...it was the coldest day he could remember in Pecha Cove and Vesper was really sick and dad...was really worried, right? And his little brother, Red, was hurt? But...had Pecha Cove ever snowed? He saw pink and white in his mind's eye-a pecha in the snow? His head spun even with closed eyes. He was shifted from his muddled thoughts when something touched his mouth. A moment later, he felt a trickle of warm water and opened his eyes to see the reindeer was giving him water through a large eyedropper. He drank gratefully, feeling enough for a moment to try and speak.

 _"_ _Where am I?"_ He was drawing a complete blank on what happened and how he got there.

"Oh, you are awake-I wasn't sure. You almost didn't make it, but I knew you were going to be okay because your friends told me you were really tough. Can you open your eyes?"

Sunny didn't move, gazing blearily at the doctor. He focused on making sure he'd understood the last sentence. ... _Yes?_

When the reindeer didn't get a response he went on, a little disheartened. "Do you remember, you made it all the way up here to the castle so your friends could be treated. I went back to look for you but you'd made it up by yourselves."

 _"_ _Oh,"_ Sunny said, trying to catch up. There was a slight creak of a bed across the room.

"Is that Sunny?" A hoarse voice asked in a wince.

"Don't sit up!"

"Chopper, can I see him? I don't think he understands."

Sunny was moved to a bed, by the side of someone's supine form A moment later, something warm and heavy was on his head, scratching his scalp, behind his ears and base of his skull all at once. It grounded him somewhat as he relaxed into the touch. It felt nice, familiar, the same memory of the kitchen, a pan smoking as vodka was poured onto the vegetables with a loud hiss-flambé, Sanji's kitchen. And when the hand pulled away, it was sunflower yellow hair Sunny saw with a curled eyebrow-he pushed his head forward into the retreating hand with an affectionate nudge, soft nose tickling the chef's calloused palm. Sanji chuckled and scratched Sunny's head with his pointer finger. "Hey there, buddy. You were in shock for a minute there, you alright?"

"Quu..." Sunny purred gently.

"Wow, Sanji, you're really good with animals!"

Sanji smiled lightly. "I would say-that he's good with us."

Sunny turned to the reindeer, Chopper, with a sudden realization. _"There was another reindeer, right? I talked to him."_ Was this a castle of reindeer? There at least three weren't there? Unless the previous one _had_ evolved, but it was somehow speaking to Sanji? Sunny turned to look at Sanji when Chopper just looked at him in puzzlement. _"Another reindeer took Nami, where is she?"_

Sanji nodded as if he understood. "He wants to know how the others are doing."

Chopper frowned. "He said that? I can understand animals but I just hear him repeating a few syllables. Is there a pattern?"

"No, there really isn't-last week 'quil-quil' meant 'there's not enough hot sauce in my matcha' and just now, he used it to ask about the rest of the crew. He's impossible, but you can tell sometimes by how he says it," Sanji sounded a bit confused himself. This was one of the first premonitions of understanding the fire shrew and he suddenly understood the occasional communication euphonies the others got. Were they picking up tone and body language or was there something more? Sanji was pulled from his thoughts as the unlikely doctor suddenly remembered the question and gave Sunny the same information Sanji had demanded when he first woke up.

"Your friends are resting. Nami- well she's really sick from a bite from a Kestia bug we thought was extinct. If Doctorine hadn't been able to make an antidote-" the doctor bit his lip before continuing "but she should be recovered fully within a week! Oh, and, you"-Chopper gestured to Sunny- "your body was actually slowly burning off the virus, your waking temperature was too high to host the disease. It would have only affected you like normal when you were sleeping a lot. Depending on how much you were up, you likely would have eventually recovered. Nami on the other hand…" The doctor trailed off. "But Doctorine was able to synthesize a more effective serum from the blood sample we took. Sanji broke ribs and had a concussion like you, and your other friend was exhausted and had frostbite. He-actually, he was eating and his sleep and he tried to eat me before my yelling woke him up." Chopper shuddered.

Sanji and Sunny blinked in surprise. "He stopped trying to eat you when he woke up?" Chopper let out a shriek of fear at the implication and cowered next to a table leg for a moment before gathering up his doctor persona again when Sanji asked another question.

"You said 'Doctorine' she's the one who healed us? The townspeople called her a witch." Sanji said.

"Doctorine is resting right now, but yes she made the anti-virus, she's an incredible doctor!"

"And the coup that happened the other day?"

"Several months ago Whapol was the king of this island but was driven off. Three days ago he showed up again his army defeated the townsfolk in Big Horn. A-a lot of people got hurt. But Doctorine and I are the only doctors on the island. It used to be full of them but he exiled all but the twenty best."

"Where are the others then?"

"He kept them for himself. And if any of the people wanted their services, they would have to grovel at Whapol's feet and pay all they had for their services." Chopper explained. Sanji ground his teeth. "Doctorine refused. He wants to take over the castle, and after his own exile, it seems like most of the doctors left him. So he wants this castle back and he wants Doctorine under his service. But Doctorine had me break the gondola and snap the cable so he hasn't been able to get here. He's given Doctorine one more day to decide to serve him and by the time he gets the castle, if we don't give it up, he's gonna take it by force, and Doctorine will…" Chopper buried his face in his hands. He carefully wiped at his eye with his arm.

They were interrupted by a low gurgling noise Sanji and Chopper realized had been from the quietest participant of the conversation. The shrew pokemon's head perked up as he was startled by his stomach's growl.

"Sunny, are you hungry?" Sanji asked.

 _"_ _I am!"_ Sunny realized cheerily.

Sanji gave him a bright smile. "Good, I'll just-" He winced, a second before Chopper changed to his larger form and pushed him down again gently.

"Don't move! I can get something for him, but well-what _is_ he?" Chopper blushed and covered his mouth after realizing what he had said could have come off as rude. Sunny looked to Sanji to explain for him.

"We aren't quite sure but he has fire power and definitely isn't a normal animal."

"But you...isn't he a monster? And you all treat him like a friend? Why?" Chopper said in an even more meek voice. Sunny noted Chopper was saying it as if it were a bad thing, but he _was_ a pocket monster, so Chopper was the closest anyone had ever come to naming him. Sunny nodded his head eagerly. Chopper didn't catch Sunny's affirmation as his hooves covered his eyes in bashful nervousness.

Sanji frowned slightly, but finding no ill intent, he sighed and relaxed back into the bed. Sunny settled back and laid his head down, pressing against his leg. _We really put too much on Luffy and Sunny's shoulders this time_ , Sanji scratched his chin in thought. _I'll have to cook them the best feast they'd ever had as thanks for protecting Nami-swan._

"You would have to ask our captain about all that but yeah, from what I understand, everyone on the crew was freaked out when they first found a blue rodent had stowed away. But he's smart and brave, he wants to help Luffy achieve his dream, and he can even fight. By the time I joined the crew, he was more or less a crewmate. Not to say he isn't a handful, but he's more mature than Marimo. Anyone who sticks by us like he does-is nakama, that's what our captain would say, anyway. He probably is some kind of monster, though."

Chopper pulled his hooves from his face, his eyes watering. "I-I'll go get him some food," he said, running off.

* * *

 **Frankly, I'm pretty stoked about this next chapter, and some real Chopper and Sunny bonding, so don't expect to be waiting too long for an update!**

 **Let me know what you think-things have been going much different than in canon on Drum.**


	25. The Edge of the Knife

**Thanks for your support! Here's a set of extra special drawings for the 25th chapter as thanks to you all! Check it out on RavenWingDark on imgur or** h-t-t-p-s- :/ / imgur dot com /gallery/iTQZhtE

* * *

When Sunny woke up again, it was because the room had gotten noisy. Luffy and Sanji and Nami were all up. Sitting in their beds as least, Sanji and Luffy wrapped in bandages. Sunny jumped off Sanji's bed, slipping and tumbling clumsily onto his back, rocking a few times to get back up. Then he leapt into Luffy's bandaged arms from where he was sitting cross-legged on his bed. He leaped at his nose, trying to nip it, causing the boy to laugh harder.

After Sunny had convinced himself Luffy was well and truly there, he hopped the short gap to Nami's bed. He was being scooped up the moment he came into arms reach and held tightly to Nami's chest. Even though it was a little too tight and Nami's arms tremored slightly, it was a really good hug and he let himself go limp in her hold. "Sunny, thank you for looking out for me. Chopper told me what happened. I'm starting to think you're my guardian angel."

 _"_ _I'm glad you're okay, Nami!"_

"Nami, you're _my_ angel~" Sanji cried out, standing to sway in affection before something cracked and Chopper appeared, shoving the cook back down in his large form with considerably less gentleness as the last few times. "Listen to your doctor, dammit!"

"Ah, Chopper, where is this Doctorine?"

Chipper sniffed gently.

"We were in town during the attack, treating a boy with a severe infection, and we were pulled into the chaos. She tried to stop some of the soldiers because they were trying to attack someone she was treating. And she got shot. That's why she's recuperating, she's having trouble moving around."

"Then who's been treating the townspeople?" Sanji asked. If this Doctor Kureha was badly hurt it really couldn't be her coming into the town and treating the sick and injured without leaving a trace. And then there was the fact that nothing was taken from the houses. If it were true and these two were the only doctors on the island…"It's been you, hasn't it? But why go in secret? Don't they know you're a doctor too?"

Chopper shook his head. "No, they think I'm just a reindeer, and I want to keep it that way, if they found out…I think they'd really hate me."

The room was quiet for a moment before Luffy spoke up, mind clearly on its own track.

"I got separated, in a pile of a lot of those bunnies and snow. I had to fight them off but I couldn't find you guys," Luffy said, picking his nose.

"I don't remember anything after the avalanche." Sanji frowned.

 _"_ _I was with you and Nami. We were in a snowdrift for a while before Chopper found us. He took Nami safety."_ Sunny explained. _"That was before Luffy found us."_

"I know you're saying it was you, Nami-swan, and I out there but," Sanji shook his head helplessly, he only knew that from what he'd heard Chopper mention.

But Chopper's mouth was agape. He hadn't been focusing on the words but the tone and the energy was emitting. Once he'd opened himself up to it, it was like someone had rubbed away a spot a rusty mirror and he could see just a hint of reflection. It was, a feeling, a sensation, a scent, an instinct, or an aura. He didn't know if there was a word for it. It was being projected constantly but never noticed. An empathetic link he'd just brushed that Sunny was keenly attuned to.

Chopper diverted his gaze to the wall he was hiding in front of. "H-he's saying that you were out there and I came along. I th-think. And then Luffy came."

Three pairs of eyes turned their attention to him, surprised by his words rather than his sudden reappearance. Then Sunny nodded, with a look of surprise. _"Yes! Exactly."_

Chopper's heart sunk a little as the message was muddled again but Sunny's body language was clear enough.

"You heard him?" Sanji asked.

"I tried what you said. I listened to him instead of his words. It was...a really weak psychic link that's always there? Ah, but it's probably a stronger connection with all of you because you have bonds. It seems like it might be related."

 _"_ _Hold on-you really understood me right there-like we were speaking the same language."_ Sunny started, jumping down off the bed inches from Chopper. It had been so long since someone had looked at him and completely comprehended him, even if the others occasionally picked up phrases or intent.

"Eeh? I DIDN'T MEAN TO INTERRUPT!" Chopper dashed out the door, the sudden proximity startling him. Sunny went after him. Even Luffy grabbed his hat like he was going to follow before Sanji stopped him with a 'wait, Luffy.'

Sunny got in the hallway and the little doctor was out of sight, hooves clacking loudly on the stone floor. He didn't even need his tremor sense to know he'd taken a sharp left in the echoey corridor and pursued.

He followed a few more turns before he caught sight of the doctor, who turned around running, eyes bugging out as he saw his pursuer. "GAAH! HE'S GONNA GET ME! I'M SORRY!" He screeched in sheer panic.

Sunny's grin widened as he sped up too—he wasn't going to let this strange deer doctor who was as flighty as a starly get away so easily. His paws flew across the ground, he took a few turns so fast he was skimming walks on turns, even with his small stature, and the doctor was shrieking as the distance closed to five feet.

Sunny let out a squeak of laughter as he poured on speed just long enough bump Chopper and overtake him, turning back with his tongue sticking out at him as he rounded a corner.

Chopper's expression changed from terror to yet another type of panic as he tried to reorient himself to now being the pursuer. "Wait! You shouldn't run with your tongue out! You could hurt yourself!"

Chopper chased him through another hallway, bending around again in a way that even Sunny had almost lost track of where they were, and into a large room. Sunny rounded a pillar with Chopper close behind and to Chopper's alarm, _he_ was being chased again. Chopper's shriek of surprise changed to laughter at the absurdity of the situation. He'd thought his life was on the line and now he was playing chase in the castle, the smaller creature was _having fun_. He'd never played chase with anyone before, not in the herd, not with Doctor Hiruluk or Doctorine. The castle for him had always been shelter, a place to learn, and comforting place despite the cold, but never somewhere to have fun. Sunny tagged him with the tip of his long nose and darted off again.

"Hehehahe…" He gasped for breath and slowed to a jog as Sunny did a few circles ahead of him to show off he was getting away. "Hehehoha…"

The strange shrew creature was making a funny noise too, losing down with a quiet huff-bark –like noise Chopper realized must be laughter.

"Hehehaha!" Chopper bent over gasping and laughing at the strange sound and the fact that they were playing tag during a coup. It wasn't funny-it was scary-but it was really funny in the moment. Sunny flopped over on his back, legs wiggling half-heartedly like he was still running as he laughed.

"'Y-you l-looked really scary when you were chasing me!" Chopper sniggered, falling onto his back as well.

 _"_ _Sorry, when I see something move like that, I can't help it,"_ Sunny said, finally laying still on his back to catch his breath. _"This is a really big castle. That was all just one floor."_ Sunny looked over at Chopper. _"Can you hear me?"_

"I hear you, I really hear you!" Chopper giggled again, arms sprawled at his sides."I-I think I can. It's not exactly the same as other languages and I only understood part of it, but..you don't have a lot of people to talk to either, do you?"

Sunny shook his head.

"Yeah, me neither…" Chopper said. His hooves came up to but against each other nervously. "Would you…"

Sunny waited a moment, then stood up, shaking himself off. _"What?"_

"N-nevermind!"

* * *

Luffy fixed Sanji a looked split between compliant and questioning as Sanji stopped him from following after their smallest nakama. He frowned, clearly wanting to burn some the energy he had laying in bed for over a day but he fixed his attention on his cook. "Let's trust Sunny to handle this." Sanji said finally. He pulled a cigarette and his lighter out and reveled in sneaking his first smoke in over two days. _Those two could both probably could use a conversation too, if that's in the cards_ , he thought. "Luffy, how did you find us after the avalanche anyway?" It was challenging to piece Sunny's account-through-Chopper and his own hazy memories.

Luffy's frown became exaggerated like he was thinking too hard, which almost made Sanji want to tell him to take it easy.

"Well, I was digging through the snow when I got a really bad headache that made the back of my eyes feel like they'd been kicked really hard. But then I heard, or felt, maybe, a really strong voice in my head. Then I felt really lonely like that's the only feeling I could feel at all. I just started moving in a direction until the voice stopped. And that's when I found all of you."

Luffy looked at Sanji, who was looking at him with a deadpan expression. "You had a headache…that led you to us."

"Yup," The frown disappeared and Luffy nodded his head energetically, his legs kicking. "A really weird one."

"Yeah, okay." Sanji said, laying back down. The captain had a feeling that led him to them? Could be count that up to being a weird Luffy thing, was it just a normal migraine, or was it something else? It was beyond him, he finally decided before he got a headache of his own. Not like much about Luffy was explicable anyway.

* * *

"We're not gonna let Whapol get away with this."

"Wait, am I remembering right. You said they gave you three days? What would mean—"

"They're returning today at dusk." A new voice, crackled and aged like withered hides came from around the corner. A tall woman with a large nose, long white hair and teenage dress leaned against the wall at the entrance of the room.

"Old lady!"

"Doctorine, you shouldn't be up—" Chopper rushed toward her, but she stopped him with a fierce glare.

"Don't think you can boss me around just because you're playing nurse to these pirates. You're 122 years too young to suggest anything to me."

Chopper gulped and backed away.

"Are you the one who treated us?  
"Eh, Chopper did the heavy lifting, I'm just here to collect my dues. You're pirates, right? I hope you brought treasure."

Nami balked. "No way are you taking my hard-earned treasure!"

"That's not for you to decide, girl." She shot back. She had an incredible amount of life in her for someone so old but she was almost standing very stiffly, as if she was being careful in the way she moved. She really had to be injured, Sunny realized. She smelled strongly of poultice, which he realized must be covering up whatever strong smell of sickness she was giving off. "But you better hide when Whapol gets here, he won't be happy to see useless squatters in his castle."

"Doctorine! This is our…" Chopper's hooves clenched.

"Out with your words, Chopper, don't just leave them hanging," she reprimanded.

"-our home!" Chopper yelled. The words echoed in the room for a moment. Despite Doctorine's harsh words, he seemed more confident dealing with her than with the nicer Strawhats.

"It won't do much good with what we saw of Whapol's troops. He's picked up at least three other devil fruit users from what I saw. It's not worth the effort."

No one said anything for a long moment after that. Finally, Luffy stood up, adjusting his hat.

"Don't worry, we'll handle it. Sunny?" He looked down for confirmation from the creature curled up on his bed. The fire-type hopped down, igniting his back with a battle cry.

Even Dr. Kureha's lips quirked up in interest at that. She shared a meaningful glance with her apprentice. "Looks like your theory wasn't too far off." She said as she accepted the loose papers Chopper ran and offered her bringing her glasses down and flicking through them. "Hmm. Careful not to get killed, he may need me alive, but I'm sure he'll have no such reservations with you lot. I'll be dealing with this myself." She grinned dangerously as she crossed the room, holding her side slightly, grabbed a small purple vial and putting it into her pocket then she left the room.

"Doctorine tricked him into thinking he had a disease only she could cure to keep the townspeople safe. She's gonna give her the medicine but I don't know what the rest of her plan is."

"It doesn't matter, we're not gonna let him control this country anymore," Luffy said, nodding and walking to the door.

"Wait, Luffy." Nami half sat up from her bed, pulling her plaid yellow hook from the hook by the bed and holding it out to her captain,

Sanji's eyes turned to hearts. "Oh Nami, let me wear your coat, Luffy can wear mine—" But had crossed the room again and accepted the coat with a warm smile.

"Thanks, Nami!" And he was out the door. Sunny jumped onto Sanji's shoulder as they exited the room as well. It wasn't long until dusk. Sanji lit a cigarette and released a strained breath.

"That old doctor, what's she planning to do with Whapol? She's trying to protect the town isn't she, so whatever's in that vial isn't medicine," he said gravely. Sunny stiffened, looking Sanji in the eye.

A doctor's oath was to heal and not harm, but it seemed like she had been driven past that vow. _"Does Chopper know?"_ He wondered.

"Hey wait for me!" Chopper said, trotting to catch up with them in walk point. The cook and junior lieutenant of fire stiffened again. "I'm going to help defend my home. But as a doctor I can't permit Sunny to fight in these conditions."

Sunny growled lightly in irritation before Chopper continued. "I know you're disagreeing with me and I don't know if I could stop you in the first place, but I think I have an idea."

Sunny shared a glance with Sanji before hopping off his shoulder and back to Chopper. Sanji nodded and hurried after Luffy.

"You won't able to fight long in this climate." Chopper began. Sunny knew this, he very much didn't want to go outside but until Zoro showed up and with Sanji injured, he knew Luffy needed any bit of help he could offer.

 _"_ _But you have a plan, Chopper?"_

King Whapol appeared with a new gondola created and stepped onto the top of the mountain with the massive, jester-like Chess and afro-wearing Kuromarimo. Glancing out the first-floor window (after jumping as high as he could in the air to do so) Sunny made out Luffy and Sanji coming out to meet them, passing Dr. Kureha, who seemed to be yelling at them.

"Are you ready?" Chopper asked as his hooves dexterously fiddled with tying off a string.

 _"_ _Ready,"_ Sunny returned, letting Chopper put the string around his neck, which had a key on it. Chopper nodded and ran further into the building. Sunny headed out the door, came beside Dr. Kureha like he was checking in on her, then pretended to notice the offenders for the first time and ham up being shocked.

"What, Chopper let you-" Dr. Kureha started but Sunny had already managed to make as much eye contact as a respectable cyndaquil would ever dare with the afro-ed enemy and turned to flee back into the castle.

"Hey, boss! That little thing has a key! Should I-?"

"Whatever Kuromarimo, just take care of the weaklings," Whapol interrupted. Kuromarimo grit his teeth and ran past Dr. Kureha.

Sunny darted through the castle, taking two rights and a left and a straightaway through a long hallway, following a strong smell and ducking sticky marimo balls as he went. Then ran into a large stone room, the sound of a bipedal feet clacking against the stone tile behind him. Once in the room, Sunny made a show of trying to catch his breath and looking around as if he were the one trapped.

Kuromarimo slowed entering the room, his stride changing into a swagger with a haughty smile on his face. _Not quite far enough,_ Sunny thought, backing up further leading the man back into the cold room, top window panes long gone, exposing them partially to the freezing weather. Chopper had been right, this was much better than being outside. And it wouldn't be cold for long, either.

Sunny's back paw touched a slick tile. The fire-type readied himself and shot a blast of fire right behind him which quickly caught on the spilled lamp oil which had been poured liberally across the dark stone tiles, catching in a ring around the room and snaking in arcs through the room. In moments the chill was replaced by crackling fire taller than Sunny himself, Marimo caught in the middle in strip of safe ground.

Chopper, who had been hiding right behind the door gathered himself up and yelled "SUNNY-CHOPPER COMBO: BURNING LABYRINTH!" Then he slammed the heavy door shut and there was the sound of a bolt locking.

Sunny smiled grimly. As uncomfortable as Sunny was in the burning room, remembering the forest fire moments before the Big Displacement, it was obviously twice as uncomfortable for Kuromarimo, who was already beginning to sweat in his heavy coat.

He pulled two marimo into his hands. "What's happening?"

Sunny approached, moving silently through the fiery maze as the man tried to adjust to the bright fire in the dark room. When he was close enough, he charged through the last line of fire separating them, with a quick attack, curling up to slam into his stomach in a roll. Despite the sound of pain the man clapped down on Sunny's sides with his marimo-covered fists.

They slowed down people down, right? Sunny couldn't afford it-his speed was his only real defense. He lost momentum on his spin as his back picked up in flame as he jumped back, burning away the marimo. His fur was somewhat singed too, for his reckless charge through the fire. Knowing his only ability was easily negated by Sunny's fire didn't mean he was beaten. Still, Chopper's plan had almost made it impossible or him to lose if he was patient enough. Then they would be able to help Sanji and Luffy.

Whapol-didn't he eat people? Sunny winced internally at the thought even as he jumped away from Kuromarimo's reach. He followed the maze of fire's turns to the outer ring as Kuromarimo loses some of his namesake in the process. Sunny jumped in and out, carefully avoiding moving within the fire and only skimming it to dart behind Kuromarimo and shoot a spray of fiery bolts at his opponent, peppering holes in the man's coat and pants.

The man was getting desperate and started throwing marimo balls in every direction to try and catch Sunny but all it did was give more places for the fire to reach, fiery moss balls rolling and bumping into each other. Kuromarimo exhausted himself and his ability before Sunny did, in the end, that's all it came down to. Sunny charged at him one last time, knocking into him with his thick skull, and crumpling to the ground by the nearly-spent flames, afro smoldering and body covered in soot.

Sunny's skin felt sensitive like he had a sunburn himself but nothing that was worth worrying about. He chomped on the string around his neck and let the large bronze key drop into Kuromarimo's open hand as Chopper unlocked the door and pushed it open.

 _"_ _That key opens the door to the dry food storage,"_ Sunny said cheerily, _"knock yourself out."_ And he was running back through the door by Chopper's side. His companion stopped him with an arm just as they reached the threshold of the castle.

Sunny looked at him with confusion and caution in equal measure. The reindeer's arm was tremoring and he was worrying his lip but his eyes were sharp. Sunny had to wonder why he was fighting with them. He was a doctor and a kid and while Sunny was young too, he had been born to fight. Fire was in his blood.

Chopper had accidentally eaten a devil fruit and been granted abilities, and couldn't show his true self in fear of judgment from the humans. And likely, his herd too. Sunny wasn't sure what he sleuth would have done if confronted by someone who looked more human than cyndaquil. Would they be able to trust them? Sunny felt like it was unlikely.

Chopper watched as the small, juvenile creature seemed lost in thought for a moment. He'd been throwing himself headlong into fights and risks since the doctor had met him. He'd never had a fr-an ally smaller than him. He had to ensure he didn't get hurt worse than he already was. It was Chopper's job as a doctor, and as his elder to make sure he didn't get back in the condition that he found him in again.

Finally, he spoke up, anchoring himself in his medical persona, "Without anyone keeping you warm, you'll have five minutes out there before hypothermia sets in again. Promise you'll go back in if you reach that limit, or there could be permanent repercussions."

The cyndaquil seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding and responding- "Cyyyyndaquil." Then he charged into the snow.

* * *

 ***It's like having a bad connection on a phone call with someone with a heavy accent who's standing too far from the phone but Chopper's putting in a valiant effort.**

 ***A mysterious power has been introduced in this chapter, which we'll learn more about later on—theres a reason for it, but I'm keeping all of Sunny's abilities within the game's rules, with slight flavor changes.**


	26. The Price of Brilliant Light

**Thank you all so much for your support in getting me to 200+ reviews -** , IMayBeACatPerson, sarahgri99, Layla347, Thomas Drovin, buterflypuss, justlovereadin, MAJORMATT1234, **and** Gamelover41592. **And a special thank you to** myafroatemydog **for reviewing just about every chapter of this story.**

 **Also just looked back on the last chapters and holy grammar y'all, anybody have beta experience?**

* * *

Just as Sunny and Chopper made it outside, they noticed Sanji, squaring off with two men-a large man in jester-like clothing they recognized as Chess, Whapol's right-hand man. The other man was clad in a black cloak and a black hard hat, carrying two-foot long pieces of rebar in each hand. He looked like a goth construction worker had clocked off his shift and come to fight in Whapol's army.

Sanji was opposing the strange duo but looked harried, like he'd been holding them off for a while but there was no end in sight. But even if Sanji defeated them, dozens of Whapol's soldiers were lined up behind him, and half a dozen more were coming up with every trip of the repaired gondola.

"Dark-dark ball!" The man in black called out. Just before he and Sanji were enveloped in it, both Whapol's men flicked down green goggles. "A ball of night-like darkness!"

Sunny's mouth twitched into a small smile. Darkness, was that all? Chopper in walk point followed him into the massive sphere. Sure enough, it was like twilight in the sphere. He felt the shift of someone moving fast, crunching snow.

"Damn it, enough with these games..." Sunny heard Sanji growl, ten feet to his left. He could just make out part of an outline of their chef, and Sunny reminded himself that darkness of night was not pitch-black. If Sanji had a moment to recollect himself he'd realize it wasn't as much as a handicap as he originally thought. The biggest issue seemed to be that Chess was using arrows and it was nearly impossible to sense them before they landed. Sunny took care to stay behind the man, who was somehow seeing in the darkness without issue.

Sunny heard a crunch, a cry of "Arm Point!" and an impact to his right followed with a 'hiiii-yah!" that seemed to come from Chopper. The supposed dark-dark devil fruit user screamed in surprise and landed close to Sunny, who ignited and prepared a hail of fiery embers. To his surprise, the man in black let out another cry and seemed to pull in on himself before Sunny even loosed his ember.

"My eyes!" He cried. Sunny tilted his head in confusion despite himself. Well, that was new.

"Get it together, Kuromas-aaah!" The loud voice of Chess came, punctuated by a sharp crack of a bone that could only have been caused by Sanji.

"Keep griping, I'll kick your ass."

Kuromasa tried to slink away into cover again, but Sunny honed in on the sound of the rebar clinking against ice for a moment as he quietly stepped away. It was easy enough to pursue. By the sound of the other side, Chopper had located his opponent again and was delivering blows with more strength than Sunny had expected from Chopper.

Sunny tracked Kuromasa's movements and charged up another blast of embers. _The good thing about the two of us is...we don't need light to know where you are!"_ And the fire bolts went sailing straight into Kuromasa's face. He screamed again and the darkness bubble around them faded away, leaving him on the ground, green goggles flung away and him scrubbing at his eye. Sanji, one foot led in the air as if preparing the kick, his body littered in thin cuts from arrows, but was still five feet away from Chess. Chess was flanked by not any of the Chopper forms Sunny had seen before. This one was tall and lithe, but with massively muscular arms, which were positioned by Chess's back. Had Chopper _evolved_?

Across the field, Luffy was fighting, holding a thin, uprooted tree between himself and Whapol's teeth. It was the same tree Sunny had seen reaching the top of the climb, Sunny noted with a bit of sadness.

"Che," Sanji said, turning to look at Kuromasa. "You're mine."

Sunny backed away from the fight and focused on where Luffy was. How many minutes had it been? One or two, maybe? His feet were already going numb but his constant fire was beating back some of the painfully cold air.

Chess had another idea and broke away from Chopper before the deer could lash out again, pulling, and firing a flaming arrow and pointing it at the flying flag on the castle's roof. It was a pirate flag, one Sunny hadn't noticed before, the jolly roger wearing Chopper's hat with scattering cherry blossoms in the background. Was Chopper a pirate? Or was it something like Usopp in the Usopp pirates?

Sunny realized he hadn't been thinking about the right thing as the arrow was loosed with a heavy _thwack_. Not when he heard the Chopper's horrified cry pierce the cold air. Sunny didn't need to see his face to feel the aura of devastation pouring out of him like a teabag in hot water before the ghost pepper sauce was poured in. In the way Luffy always acts, he was moving before he'd fully assessed the situation, throwing the tree at Whapol to create space and rocketing to the roof in a flash, the same moment the fire arrow connected. There was an explosion that nearly caused Sunny to jump out of his skin. Followed by a scared whimper from Chopper and a cry of shock from Sanji.

Chess started to laugh but Sunny didn't react other than a sigh of relief. The billowing smoke coming from the roof may have been opaque for the others, but Sunny could make out the silhouette of his captain from inside the expanding smoke, and something he was holding, too.

The smoke was pushed away by the air and fanned by the still-waving flag. The sleeve of Nami's coat had been scorched off but the flag was unburnt and Luffy was grinning.

"CHOPPER!" He yelled. "JOIN MY CREWWWWWWW!"

Chopper's hooves were covering the deer mouth, and he reverted into his small brain-point form, mouth opening and closing ineffectually. "B-but..."

"CHOPPPPERRRR! BE MY NAKAMA!"

Finally, the doctor was able to bring his cracked voice above the wind and yelled back to the pirate captain. "Bu-but I'm a _monster_!"

"SHUT UP! I DON'T CARE!" He raised the flag and brought it back down with enough force to send roof tiles clattering and wedge the metal pole into the roof slightly askew, but holding fast. He cracked his knuckles. "SANJI, TAKE CARE OF THAT IDIOT!"

"You got it, Luffy," Sanji smirked and their captain jumped back off the roof to finish his fight with Whapol. It didn't last long. On the ropes, Whapol tried to skirt around to Chess and Kuromasa. Chopper and Sanji kept the two busy while Sunny, peppering gouts of ember into the solider's ranks.

New arrivals on the gondola, taking it back down rather than join the fray as they saw one solider after another yelling and rolling around in the snow to put out fires and soothe burns. Two lost their coats, one his pants, now in the back of the formation, shivering helplessly in his underwear.

"Demon!" One yelled, tripping over another to get away to escape a volley of ember sent at his feet.

Whapol only got sloppier in frustration as his attempts to get to the others were foiled over and over again. Then Kuromarimo, covered in soot and burns, half his afro was missing.

"King Whapol, I'm here. Let me help you!" he yelled, coughing some of the smoke from his lungs. Whapol's massive metal grin widened.

"Kuromarimo, my loyal solider, come here."

"Hey-wait-" Luffy began to protest. Kuromarimo stumbled over to his king's side just as Whapol' mouth seemed to unhinge and swallow the man whole. He swallowed with a gulp and the battlefield seemed to go silent except for the punishing wind. Luffy sobered. Tipped his hat to shade his eyes.

"You shouldn't have done that."

The battle didn't last long after that, even with Whapol's increase in power, it was nothing compared to the Straw Hat captain with a grudge to settle. Four minutes after Sunny and Chopper entered the fray, Luffy kicked Whapol so hard, his steel jaw cracked as he was sent flying in the air.

Luffy grinned, wiped sweat off his forehead and started to lay in on the soldiers. Sunny followed where Whapol had fallen with morbid interest. He ran up to the side of the cliff after seeing a blur of something fall that way. Sunny leaned over the sheer edge to see the massive man hanging on a thick root just a foot under the edge of the cliff. He was straining as if he were desperately trying to pull his other arm to reach but couldn't manage. Sunny was struck with the realization that the man who had victimized the entire country and hurt Chopper and Dr. Kureha was completely helpless. Even Sunny could defeat him at that moment.

"Eergh," The man groaned feet scrabbling, but unable to make purchase on the icy wall. Sunny watched on. One ember would be all it took to protect the country from him. Who knew how many causalities he'd made? When he'd taken all the doctors for himself, how many people died of an illness that could have been cured? As he stared down at the man, who finally seemed to focus on the unassuming creature.

"You, go fetch someone to get me, shoo, go!" Whapol ordered. "Hey, I'm your king you little beast! I'll have you and your friends rewarded!" Despite his words, the feeling of dishonesty and greed and gluttony poured off this man in waves at this distance, making his stomach turn and warm with energy. He spread his front legs to stabilize in the snow instinctually and steam began to run from his nostrils and mouth from his heavy breaths as his head spun with as he wondered if he was really doing the right thing.

Then a black sheathe slid in front of his face, causing Sunny to jerk up and see Zoro, wearing a green coat, slightly pink in the nose, unhurt but serious. "That's not our place, Sunny. Our captain defeated him, if he falls now, that's not our concern, but if you attack him now, that's execution- I won't allow it." Zoro frowns. He's standing as a pillar for Luffy's morals as first mate and Sunny recognizes easily that there will be no leeway with what Zoro is warning him.

Whapol could live and attack Drum-after all, he was the monster who ate his crew, he could live and kill again. And if someone like him had a shot at the hunters who killed his mother before it happened and spared them, he couldn't have forgiven them. Zoro was tense beside him, rightfully understanding that Sunny's inaction was not acquiescence as Sunny battled with his thoughts. What was the chance Whapol would live? How much faster than him was Zoro? What would Luffy think? Would Chopper hate him for even considering this? Sunny's shaking got worse as he screwed his eyes shut. Doctor Kureha planned to do it to save her people. Here was a chance even he was strong enough to take. His breath steamed heavy in the air like he was one of Sanji's cigarettes burning out.

Zoro would never strike him down but-if Sunny did, he'd hurt his sleuth anyway. He'd hurt Luffy and the rest and Chopper and even Zoro.

...Since when was he someone who worried about the bigger picture? His mom would have killed this man but Sunny's goal was to protect the Strawhats, not this town. He would hurt those he needed to protect if he tried. He had to trust that Zoro knew what he was doing, even if Sunny couldn't see the reasoning behind it.

Decision made, Sunny took a robotic step back from the edge. Zoro's frame relaxed almost to the way he held himself on the Merry and he gave a grunt of approval. He reached down to scoop Sunny up, stiffening slightly when he felt the shaking coming from the small fire-type. It was for the best he was being picked up, he was beginning to feel dizzy. _Chopper had been right to warm me not to spend more than five minutes outside,_ Sunny thought as he instinctually pawed at Zoro for warmth, and maybe for forgiveness.

"Shit," the swordsman said lightly, tucking Sunny into his haramaki and granting the fire-type both.

* * *

With Zoro had come Vivi, Usopp, and Carue. After their victory against Whapol, the soldiers had fled in fear and the group had been shuffled back into the castle and the medical room, which was the only room in the castle with burning fireplaces, and hurriedly passed out blankets and hot tea to the pirates. Zoro was the only one who hadn't accepted, and was instead watching the tiny reindeer work on bandaging any injuries that had come about.

Luffy had already introduced him as the crew's doctor, which sent Chopper into a panic. Sunny had to wonder what happened to his own pirate crew if they had the flag there on their castle.

Doctor Kureha was there, mixing herbs in the corner but her skin has gone ashen. Sunny's keen sense of smell picked up the reek of illness on her as sure as another might discern the color orange. Her face crinkled more as she heard the crew squabble and argue, from if forcing someone to join the crew was a sound recruitment option and leading into if people in winter islands can really sleep without dying.

At this Kureha's fragile patience snapped-he'd clearly been asleep on this island, was this rubber dumbass really so dense? She leveled her pestle at the group. "You pirates better shut up and let the sick rest-no one is leaving this place without being fully healed and without paying my extravagant fee for risking my life treating you! And Chopper, once they go, we'll work on drilling vervain and thyme uses 'til you get it right! I left all your coats outside the room in case the room gets cold, but don't even think about leaving!" At that, Chopper's mouth opened in a little 'o' and his eyes teared slightly.

He ran to hug Kureha's leg, screwed up his eyes and shouted. "I'll be here when you come back to this room, Doctorine, and I'll practice everything you've taught me over these six years and become the doctor who can cure anything in the world!"

Doctor Kureha waited a moment before she gave a 'hfmp,' pushed him off and stiffly left the room with the mortar and pestle she had been working with.

Luffy shared a smile with Sanji and Nami.

Sunny panicked, deciding everyone was acting too calm at this. _"She's not going to let Chopper leave with us! Is she really going to make Nami stay here too?"_

"Sunny, chill, what are you doing?" Nami asked as she watched the little pokemon furiously scrabble his paws against the mattress of her bed as if digging. _Oh_ , she noted. _He actually_ is _digging._ Threads and feathers were being ripped out as he dug a hole straight through the sheet and into the top of the mattress. She scooped him up and set him on the ground.

"Well, we better listen to what that old lady says," Zoro smirked. Sunny's eyes went wide. _What?_

"Shishishi, no choice."

Sunny turned to Chopper in desperation. _"No, come with us! Even though it's wet, the ocean's really amazing!"_

Chopper looked with a blank expression at Sunny for a moment before he jumped back in shock. "Oh no! He totally doesn't get it!"

Sunny realized he had the crew's attention again.

"Sunny did you think we were going to leave Chopper behind?" Nami asked gently.

Sunny tilted his head, trying to calm down as he nodded affirmatively. _"Isn't...isn't that what she said?"_ A few of the crew sweat-dropped at what Sunny had clearly missed in their conversation.

"We're not leaving our doctor behind!" Luffy agreed.

"It was really obvious that wasn't what she meant, Sunny," Usopp scolded, chopping a hand down in the air in the 'no' motion.

Zoro grabbed the coats and started tossing them to their prospective owners while Nami was given a thick wool traveling cloak presumably provided by Doctor Kureha.

Sunny shook his head in helpless confusion. _If that's not what she meant why had she said it..?_

Chopper was smiling to himself. "The herbs she mentioned, thyme and vervain symbolize courage and good fortune, and I memorized their uses in my first weeks with her."

Sunny realized, she really was giving it all away, letting Chopper go in such a strange way even when she smelled the way she did. Chopper didn't know, did he? The thought had him running out the door and following the sickly smell of rot. If Chopper had really been studying with her for six years, Chopper was much older than him. So why did he still want to protect him from not saying goodbye properly to a mother as if he were a younger..?

He found the room she had gone into-it wasn't far- and rushed in. The woman was even paler in this light and her shrewd eyes trained on him even though she didn't move. Sunny had already seen what she'd been trying to hide. Presumably, she hadn't let Chopper see, or he would have known. She had her shirt pulled up, exposing the deep shrapnel punctures in her chest and ribs, the skin around it was green and sickly with lines leading from it like veins crossing her chest, reaching her shoulder, over her heart, across her stomach. The smell burned his nose. It smelled like death.

 _"_ _How are you still-?"_ Sunny cut himself off even if he was sure she wouldn't understand. Could she not cure herself? Or was this a fatal wound that she'd been skilled enough to keep herself moving while Chopper still needed her?

She let her shirt drop down after Sunny had taken a good look. "Looks like you're too curious for your own good, little rodent. Or are you offering to stay here so I can experiment on you?"

Sunny didn't move.

She returned to the ground concoction in the mortar and spooned it into a glass tank with clear liquid. It combined to become vibrant pink. Sunny's eyes then shifted to the still-full vial of liquid on the table-the one Kureha had been going to give Whapol as a 'cure'. Doctor Kureha noticed. "This isn't poison like I led you all to believe." She unstoppered it and drank it. "It's a remedy for the common cold, which he had. I told him he was sick and I had the cure, not that he wasn't going to recover."

Sunny felt as if something inside him collapsed like a poked balloon. He'd thought the doctor had been willing to kill to protect but even she hadn't stooped to that level. He needed to reign in the cowardly side of him that was too scared of the aftermath to take a risk. Even now, he didn't know what had become of Whapol, only that he wasn't in the spot he and Zoro had left him. Doctor Kureha set the vial down and spoke again.

"Chopper was ostracized by his herd once he ate the hito-hito fruit. Not only did he look different, he aged slower. He was still a fawn when he saw his year mates get older and lead the herd themselves. Neither humans nor reindeer would accept him, except one quack doctor, Hiriluk. Now I'm telling you this because it's important and you were rude enough to be asleep when I first told this story. Hiriluk loved that boy but he was a quack who hurt more people than he healed. _Che_. But he got sick and had less than a year to live. A foolish mistake caused by Hiriluk had Chopper accidentally poison him. Who would think that the skull and crossbones would be a good thing but a son of a pirate-lover like Hiriluk? He had hoped that his sakura powder could heal him but he didn't have time. He died asking me to finish that foolish powder that couldn't heal even him.

"I took Chopper under my wing and taught him _real_ medicine. Not to say he ever stopped trying to make sakura powder work. The boy is too naïve. His crazy dream is to find a cure-all to treat the world. I'm telling you because you might be the one who can see eye to eye with Chopper."

She slid her shrewd eyes to assess Sunny, who was just watching and listening in rapt silence. She seemed satisfied with that. "You can't tell Chopper. If he's a good enough doctor, he'll know, if not, then he's better off never knowing what happened to me."

Sunny felt queasy and miserable. Then, from her perspective, he was the best one to find out about her secret. After all, who could he tell?

Kureha watched for a moment more before nodding to the door in dismissal.

"Take care of my son."

* * *

The Strawhat pirates head down the mountain on Chopper's sleigh as he expertly ran across the thin cable as if they were flying. Vivi checked in and thanked the commander of the town's guard for their help in escaping being confined by Whapol's soldiers. Dalton cried tears of joy when Vivi told him of their victory and Zoro cut down the lush purple banner reading 'King Whapol Royal Court' to reveal 'Town Hall' again. The pirates left town before any fanfare could begin in earnest, boarded their ship, and raised anchor. As the Merry caught the first oceanic gales of cool wind, an explosion of vibrant pink plumed from the top of the Drum Rockies, cascading around until they extended like glittering sakura blossoms around the pillars. Chopper watched, hooves to his mouth in awe as Luffy whooped and hollered at the magnificent sight. Sunny had to admit it was the most surreal and beautiful thing he'd ever seen as he stood side-by-side their crew's new doctor.

Then he heard Chopper start to cry. "D-Doctorine thank you for-for e-everything. I'll become a great doctor and f-find a cure for all diseases in your honor. I p-promise you."

Sunny went still beside him. He knew? He _knew_ but he had pretended not to so Doctor Kureha could be happy while he left? Was it possible? He felt his own eyes prickle with something like relief that this secret wasn't his alone.

Doctor Kureha had said- 'If he's a good enough doctor, he'll know.'

 _She was right-he is a good doctor,_ Sunny thought. _He's closer to his dream than he realizes._ Sunny sat up on his hind legs and leaned into Chopper's side. She'd lived a long life, saved many people, passed on her knowledge to her son, maybe she was smiling down from where she was at them now? After all, he hadn't sensed any negative emotions from her, rather the lack of them. The absence of emotions Sunny could sense, it meant, despite it all-" _I think she's really happy right now."_ Sunny told his friend.

Chopper cried harder, sagging slightly against Sunny, as his eyes blurred with tears, turning the falling sakura into a blurry pink shape. He held the rim of Doctor Hiriluk's hat as they both watched great pink sakura light float down to the town below.

* * *

Doctorine's job was done, even as she poured the liquid into the explosives and walked outside without her coat to watch the explosion above. She sat, then laid down in the trampled snow to watch as the explosion of light and gas poured outward. She liked to imagine the Strawhat ship was watching from the water and Chopper could see the quack doctor's gift, the one Chopper had been trying to perfect...her eyes fought to stay open to watch the lights. What a beautiful thing to be the last she'd see. She'd seen so very much in her 139 years, but somehow it never seemed to be enough. But...if her son could pass on that knowledge and treat people, she'd be damned if it wasn't worth it. Her eyes closed as the snow fell on her cold cheeks and she felt her heart slow just as the petals started to rain down. Her light blonde hair splayed around her head in the snow, as tiny droplets of pink dropped down on her quiet form, there was a small smile on her old lips.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Her eyes opened again to a white sky.

"So this is heaven, huh? It's shitty, didn't expect it to be this cold. Guess it must be hell." She pulled herself onto her elbows and took a look at the ground, covered in pink. Her stomach wound pulled at her side. She froze. Her shaking hand pulled up her shirt, soaked in the diluted sakura powder and examined what was below. The wounds were still as jagged and unhealed as before, but the green veins stretching across her chest and torso were gone. The smell of necrosis on muscle faded, the wound sterilized. Her eyes teared up as she pushed herself to a seated position, looking in awe, even with her cold-stiffened fingers. "The poison, the poison I couldn't cure..."

She sucked in a deep breath and shouted as loudly as she could, to the mountain, to the lapahns, to Big Horn, to the Strawhats and Chopper in the ocean, to Quack Hiriluk too. "CHOPPER YOU FOOL, YOU DID IT YOU CURED THE POISON, DAMMIT." Cold tears tracked down her weathered skin as she remembered the last moments Hiriluk had invested in taking the sakura powder to reverse the poison. All the long nights Chopper had labored over the ingredients trying to make something of his father's legacy. She covered her mouth to stop herself from yelling any further as she watched the far waves that had taken that silly boy farther into the world he'd change.


	27. Reunions

**Thank you so much for being patient with my 3-month absence from this story! I moved and got a puppy so I've been pretty busy. Here we go! As a late celebration of this story's first anniversary-here we go!**

* * *

Nami was feeling better and Chopper's tears dried as the island disappeared from view and the crew took a collective breath of relief. Hours later, a cask of ale was broken open and Luffy led the charge for a quick celebration, trying to rile his crew into joining his passionate rendition of _Bink's Sake_. Though Luffy's singing voice was all over the place, he seemed to know all the words. Even Chopper perked up enough to do a valiant attempt to join the chorus in a song he didn't know. Sunny hummed and swayed along, enjoying the rise in temperature now that the Winter Island has disappeared into the night. There was no time to rest or celebrate for long-their course was set straight to Alabasta and planning to be done but Sunny and Luffy found themselves uninterested and unperturbed.

"I'll just defeat Mr. 0!" Luffy announced every time anyone tried to bring up strategy after the sing along. He was summarily booted from what had become a late night meeting in the galley. Sunny self-imposed his own exile and carefully climbed up to join Luffy on the figurehead. Luffy was laying on his back watching the sky and Sunny climbed onto his captain's stomach, and laid on his back to watch the stars glitter. His favorite was the pale white spiral he could only see on the ocean, where it was dark. Sunny broke the comfortable silence.

" _My mother told me that each star was white-hot fire of our ancestors. The really little ones clustered together are cyndaquil who have died or got or lost and joined their sleuth up there."_ Sunny pointed, drawing Luffy's attention—he had his arms propped lazily behind his head but Sunny could tell he was listening. Luffy had always minded the language barrier the least. _"They're so close together because they're playing. And Mom says they all move slowly across the sky so you can't always see all of them out there. Some only come for the summer. She could recognize them._

 _"_ _And the bigger stars are quilava and typholsion. They hunt up there, I think, that's probably why some are gathered together but they're mostly alone. My mother—and probably my brothers and sister and father, are up there watching me every night. They're what keeps the sky warm even when the sun goes away."_ Sunny moved his head up to look at his captain. Luffy didn't say anything but he gave Sunny a scratch on the chin.

 _"_ _I don't know where the other pokemon go though, or anyone else. Maybe the chikorita become blades of grass and the totodile become drops of rain? And—and people become…"_ Sunny was quiet for a long moment. _"I don't know, but they become something good…they become pokemon."_ He decided, liking the idea more and more. What would Dr. Kureha be? He wasn't sure, and as for himself-maybe he once had been human? And could hold a book and walk on two legs and sing sea shanties with Luffy and talk to his friends or even carry his own plate to the galley table.

Sunny wondered about Ho-Oh. He left only to come back when humans and pokemon were at peace. Did he exist as far as here? It couldn't be the same world, could it? But if Ho-Oh wasn't here, what did it mean for the pokemon here? He pushed the thoughts aside when it actually started to hurt his head to think about.

He flipped onto his stomach with a tired sigh and Luffy put his hand over Sunny's back.

* * *

"Sunny~" Nami called sweetly. She was standing in the girl's cabin. She gave Vivi an impish grin and Vivi, hiding behind the door, had to restrain a giggle. "Sunny, come here!" Nami tapped the ceiling of the cabin a few times.

A few seconds later, they heard scrabbling down the corridor and a curious face popped into the room, nose twitching. "Qui?"

"Come here, we have something for you." If Sunny had been more discerning, he would have been on guard by Nami's use of ' _we_ ' as she appeared to be the only one in the room, or classified the look on her face as "up to no good." Sunny didn't have a clue until Vivi slammed the door closed behind him and Nami's face twisted into a predatory grin.

* * *

"Alright, we'll reach shore in less than an hour, everybody ready?" Nami asked. The crew was decked out in various new outfits for the warm weather Nami had purchased. Not having planned for Chopper, he was wearing one of Nami's tank tops, which fit him perfectly anyway. Everyone was enjoying their summer wear except for one very disgruntled pokemon. Said fire-type was sitting in a beige bucket hat and a shirt Nami had picked up in the baby section of a shop in Loguetown that said "I'm a beach boy!" with a yellow sun and umbrella print, and was wearing four little red boots that Nami kept having to re-velcro when Sunny wiggled one off. Seeing him try to walk in them made the exercise completely worth it though, even without Vivi's warning that the desert sand could reach 130 degrees in the afternoon. Sunny had already been exposed to one extreme of weather, she wasn't about to let him try out hyperthermia on this trip.

She clapped her hands. "Alright then, I think we're ready?"

Sunny ignited where he was sitting in the middle of the line up. Zoro and Usopp on either side of him looked down, watching the shirt slowly burn off his body while Sunny sat, looking satisfied in a way one would expect from someone who had just gotten away with farting in public. No one moved for a moment.

Then- "NOOOOO! SUNNY'S ON FIRE! SOMEBODY HELPPPPP!" Chopper yelled, rushing over to Sunny and batting his hooves against the fire, to Sunny's wide-eyed surprise.

A hand reached out and picked Chopper up by the scruff before anybody got hurt. "Chopper!" Zoro scolded. "Sunny's on fire five times a day, calm down."

"Wha? Oh," Chopper relaxed and was set back down. "O-oh, right. Sorry, Sunny."

Vivi pointed out the city of Nanohana and they docked the boat, looking out at the town. Sunny climbed up Luffy's shoulder to get a better look. Now that they were closer, he could make out the individual colors of the city more, but he didn't quite understand what they were all oogling at this distance.

"Alright, we're going to need to resupply here-and stay out of trouble. It's important we don't attract attention..."

"The one who needs to hear that is already gone," Zoro pointed out.

"FOOOOOOOD!" Luffy was already charging full speed toward the town with Sunny hanging on around his neck with a death grip squeaking in alarm.

Nami buried her face in a palm. "Of course it would be those two."

Zoro shrugged. "Just find the place with the most commotion and that's where they'll end up."

* * *

Eventually, the panic of moving at Luffy's top speed faded to where Sunny started worrying about more pressing concerns-removing the stupid red booties Nami had made him wear. A little gnawing and a little rubbing against Luffy's back loosened each one in short order. Only then did Sunny let out a sigh of relief. Luffy slowed down and looked around in confusion, sweating in the middle of a sweltering desert.

"Actually...this place doesn't look like it would have food at all...WHERE ARE WE?" He screamed.

Sunny on the other hand, had stars in his eyes. He jumped off Luffy's shoulder and buried his paws in the pleasantly scorching sand with a delighted whistle. With the wind from Luffy's running, he'd hardly noticed the steady rise in temperature. But looking around, Luffy had definitely not led them to any human habitat. All he could see from any direction was more sand dunes. Sunny had allowed himself one roll in the sand before Luffy pointed a little ways toward a small cabin, roof covered in sand.

In short order, they were heading that way. Sunny dancing at Luffy's heels.

"Oi, is anybody home? Do you have food?" Luffy called at the front door of a very small house. "Oh, look water! Sunny want some water?" Luffy turned the spigot for a barrel but not a drop of water came out. "Aw man, there's no water. Is anybody home with some water in there?" After no response was offered, Luffy tilted his head and crossed his arms in annoyance. "Eh? Nobody's really here? But I'm hungry."

Sunny sniffed the dry air. It smelled like a human dwelling, but it was hard to say how recent. The little mouse pokemon hopped onto a pile of acrid sacks around the side of the cabin and peaked in.

"Oh, what's this?" Luffy called again. Through the window, Sunny saw a silhouette tense up at Luffy's call, his back against the door. Something metal shined against his belt. So there was somebody inside! A loud sound of ripping and a hack from Luffy made him swing his head back over to his captain. "Yuck! This is gross-it must be poison. Sunny, burn it!"

Sunny tilted his head at the man in the house, he didn't yell for them to stop or reach for the door to greet the captain. The fire on Sunny's back lit up gleefully.

Maybe it was the heat that made him so fire-ready but he didn't think about it as he fired a flurry of embers that caught and immediately set the pile ablaze. Luffy and Sunny's eyes widened comically as there was now a raging, smoking bonfire in the middle of the dessert.

" _I got carried away!"_ Sunny wailed, standing up on his back legs and leaning back from the fire. There was someone in the house and that meant the poison powder had been theirs! Sunny cringed as the acerbic smell worsened. Was his captain a pyro too? He already knew _he_ was.

The door shot open, the man with the knife's eyes bugging furiously from their sockets. "Did you just burn all the dance powder? It took me weeks to get that much powder from the black market and you torched it! You're going to need to pay me for all this or I'll gut you!"

If Sunny had the decency to feel a little guilty about the arson, Luffy was entirely unrepentant. "Are you saying this stuff is illegal? Why would I pay you for some illegal smelly stuff?"

Almost as an answer, the sky cracked with lightning and massive clouds of rain rolled in above them. Sunny, who was equally as startled from the lightning and the intrusion on rain on what was a perfectly scorching day, darted past the incensed man and into his cabin.

Outside, Luffy got answers out of the man who turned out to be a desert bandit, the powder was prized for making rain, at the cost of drought in the surrounding land. In short, he and Luffy had messed up and the powder was very dangerous in the wrong hands-or paws. Sunny crept back out into the poor weather, examining the clouds. He would classify them as a run-for-cover-for-10-minutes sky. Quick, scary weather, then it would be sunny again. This was rain the rest of the island needed. He may not love it, but cyndaquil needed some form of water just like any other living creature. But even if he didn't like it, Sunny's stomach turned at the idea that they were _wasting_ water others badly needed.

The idea would have been crazy to him just a few hours ago. After all, this planet was covered in it, he remembered terrifying flashes of his fall to Spring Island, seeing the blue expanse, the never-ending water. Here, there wasn't enough. Four tiny, focused fires lit on his back, growing brighter and with it, the clouds whitened in color and began to disperse in the wind, carrying their meager rain elsewhere with his signature move. Sunny and Luffy breathed a weak sigh of relief that a portion of the crisis they caused was lessened.

Luffy let his tiny fiery charge lead them in circles for half an hour before he stumbled onto his last ditched shoe. The dastardly human accessory had a use after all! He took off looking for the next three, and finally they had arrived back in Nanohana, where most the crew were supposed to be in the first place. Sunny climbed back on Luffy's shoulder to get a better view of the town. Tons of people, and tons of new smells. And one very familiar one. Sunny and Luffy exchanged a glance.

"MEAT!" the pirate captain cheered. In a flash, they were rocketing off in that direction, Sunny managing to hold onto his captain's ear.

Luffy took a seat at the first bar they found that offered meat. "Hey bartender guy! Two ciders over here!" He picked up Sunny from his shoulder and set him on the bar seat next to him. The large man seated to the left of Luffy sighed dramatically, set money on the counter and walked away, leaving Luffy and the person on the other side of the man to stare at each other. Sunny leaned over to take a look at who Luffy was spluttering incoherently at. It was another boy, older, shirtless, with black hair, freckles, and an orange hat. He was gaping openly back at Luffy. They pointed at each other for a second.

Finally, Luffy spoke, the same time as the other man. "AAAAAAAAAAACCEEEEE?"

"LUUUUUUUUUUFFFFFFFFYYY?"

The two men recoiled in shock. Tears welled in Luffy's eyes. "It's Ace!" He cheered.

Ace gave him a massive grin, ruffling Luffy's messy hair with a heavy hand. "And it's my troublesome little brother, who followed me out to sea!"

"No way! I wanted to be a pirate since before you could walk!" Luffy protested adamantly, though he was leaning into the older boy's touch. Ace sputtered a laugh.

"No way that's true, you joker. Not that I don't understand you wanting to follow in your big brother's footsteps," he teased.

"Shishishi!"

Sunny was standing on his back paws, leaning over the counter to get a good look at the other man, no, Luffy's _brother._ Sunny had had no idea he had a brother. He'd never mentioned it, not even when Sunny had talked about his family! His eyes squinted more than normal as he glanced between them, emitting a low squeal of thought. Humans were hard to distinguish like this, but...they did seem like they had a lot in common? Black hair, wide, smiling faces, dark eyes. It wasn't as obvious as he and his siblings had been, where the relation was pretty obvious with the distance between their eyes, their longer-than-average front legs, and the rotation of their firespots.

A big, satisfied smile graced Sunny's face as he looked at the two of them. He was really, really happy his captain, the patriarch of the sleuth, had a brother who clearly seemed to care about him.

Ace's gaze darted to the mouse pokemon, who had contorted himself to look at the newcomer Luffy was talking to. Luffy's forehead and mouth creased in confusion as he noticed strange purple goo that was clinging rather obstinately across his brother's bare shoulder.

Luffy's finger found his nostril, the other hand pointing to the slowly-expanding slime. Ace scratched in his own hair, and pointed at Sunny.

"Eh? What's that?" They said in harmony.

Ace frowned after a moment, still scrutinizing Sunny. "So, did you know you have a gopher sitting next to you?" He asked conversationally.

Luffy lit up even more. "Yep! This is my Sunny. He's my nakama, and he's really awesome. He's my ship's Lieutenant of Fire!"

"I see," Ace leaned over and took Sunny's paw, giving it a shake, a serious look crossing his face. "Nice to meet you, Sunny. Thanks for taking care of Luffy, I hope you'll continue doing your best with him even though he's so much trouble."

 _"_ Cyndaquil," Sunny replied sagely.

Luffy took a napkin and tried to wipe the slime off Ace's shoulder before Ace knocked his hand off peevishly.

"Hey, quit it!" At the same time, the slime wobbled and let out a _giggle_. "That's not slime _,_ she's my crewmate and partner. Gelly, don't be shy, this is Luffy."

Sunny jumped on Luffy's back, and leaned over his head in order to get a closer look.

The purple goo wobbled once more, congealing into a dense blob and turned to show two small black eyes which blinked heavily, and a squiggly smile between two round, green cheeks. With a full body wave, the pokemon gave a cheerful greeting- _"Goomy!"_

* * *

 **Well! Let me know what you think! A couple more chapters until the Alabasta arc gets really intense :)**

 **In case you were wondering, Gelly is pronounced like Jelly.**


	28. Hey Brother

**Hey guys! I'm back, there's not much else to do in quarantine! I had a lot of fun doing this chapter, and I have to thank you for all the reviews I got that made me sit down and get it done in a day.**

 **By the way, Gelly is pronounced "Jelly"**

* * *

Goomy's antennae wiggled as she stared at Sunny, her wobbly mouth opening in shock as her gelatinous body started quivering in excitement. Sunny hopped on Luffy's shoulder, leaning over the top of his head.

"AH! The snot's alive!" Luffy yelped, pulling back. Sunny was so excited he leaned forward, his paws losing hold and slipping down the front of Luffy's face as he gave the fellow pokemon an exuberant sniff of greeting. "Ahh, Sunny, stop, you're in my EYES!" Luffy protested to deaf ears.

The goomy-Gelly- launched into the air with a bounce and landed on the counter a second before Sunny leaped there himself, closing the gap between them neatly. The next second, she was wrapping her antennae around Sunny's paw and hopping up and down on the counter. _"A cyndaquil! A little cyndaquil! Gosh, I can't believe it! I haven't seen any other pokemon since I got here!"_

Sunny shook himself from his shock. He opened his mouth to speak when he realized that this was the first time since his mom he had a chance at a normal conversation. Not with a hundreds-foot whale, or a clueless pidgey, or the crew who understood him once in a blue moon. He choked on his first greeting before trying again. _"H-Hi, Gelly, I'm Sunny. Great to meet you, really great!"_

"Wait, yours is like mine? Are they talking to each other?" Ace asked, watching the pair.

"Yeah, Sunny can talk to all sorts of weird guys, like giant whales and pigeons and stuff. Hey, did you get Gelly by it sneaking on your ship too?"

"No, she fell from the sky three months ago or so, landed on my head," Ace laughed.

Gelly nodded with her whole body again, releasing Sunny's leg. _"The ground disappeared below me! It was so scary, all of a sudden I was falling, right over the Whitebeard's ship! Have you heard of them? They're really strong! Especially Ace and our old man."_

 _"Wait-the ground disappearing-that's-that was a forest?"_ Sunny demanded.

 _"Yep! It was on fire! I thought I was gonna die for sure-even though I'm resistant. Oh, all the leaves burning, what a waste!"_ she moaned. _"Then all of a sudden-"_

 _"-It was like you were in a beam of light, falling..."_

" _Yes! And I that's when I landed on Ace's head, nearly knocked him out! If I wasn't goo..."_ She shuddered.

Sunny's breath caught in his throat. If Gelly had fallen in the same way, on the same day in their forest, his sleuth-his first sleuth-could be out there still, right? His father and Vesper and Red could be out there, looking for _him!_

Sunny knew he should share seeing the legendary, Hoopa, in the forest, but something about the great pokemon's glowing yellow eyes and scary expression as they warped them dried the words in his throat. The experience still felt too personal to share, even if it was selfish of him to keep it.

Ace pulled him from his thoughts, by tipping his hat up. "It'll be trouble if we stay in one place like this so long, how about we find somewhere else to catch up, little brother? Before we attract the wrong type of attention. Gelly?"

" _On it!_ " Gelly chirped, bouncing onto his head, where Ace replaced the hat.

"She doesn't do well in the sun," Ace explained. Sunny climbed back on Luffy's shoulder as they exited the bar. "Now, how about we get out of this town?"

Sunny sighed, looking at Ace's orange cowboy hat. She'd been a lot easier to talk to than he'd expected. He slapped his cheeks to try to derail his thoughts. Still...he was just glad she was nice enough to hold up the conversation.

"I don't recommend trying," came a dry voice from behind them, successfully jolting Sunny from his cheerful musings. The three pirates turned around. A gray-haired man was learning against the wall of the bar they'd just exited. Smoke from two cigars wafted with every word. "I was just coming in to join you two, it's too bad we couldn't do this over a pint."

Sunny swung his head around as a familiar black-haired swordswoman exited an alley across from them, a platoon of soldiers behind her. "Ready when you are, Captain Smoker!" she declared.

The pirate brothers exchanged wry grins. "RUN!"

In no time at all, the three of them were pelting down the street, Luffy grabbing Ace and bazooka-ing them onto a rooftop.

"Shishishi! Sunny! Any sign of the crew?" Luffy asked.

Sunny, never the eyes of the crew, looked around helplessly at the roofs around them. _"No?"_ he supplied.

"Then they're missing out!"

"No, we are! Why are we running again?" Ace called back, securing his hat to his head and hopping down to ground level where the stampede of pursuing Marines were coming from.

"Oh, right. They looked pretty dumb," Luffy realized, hopping off the roof after his older brother and sending off a gum-gum whip at half a dozen unsuspecting Marines.

Sunny hopped around helplessly on the roof before launching himself off the roof and tumbling ungracefully to a stop. The first thing he processed where the team of Marines staring at him with horror. Then to his right-no, they weren't looking at him, they were looking at Ace as a raging fire burst from his hands. It created a fiery spiral toward the Marines-and himself-bigger than he'd seen from any pokemon, his parents included. Sunny prickled in shock, nowhere near as horrified as Ace looked. The logia user tried to reign in his attack, but it was too late. The blazing inferno encompassed the shrew pokemon, raging past and burning the Marines a dozen paces back.

In the midst of the firestorm, Sunny could only see roils of red, orange, and yellow and hear Ace's desperate, wordless cry.

The little pokemon had never felt so much fire, _breathed_ it. It burned, it was alive, it was so, so powerful. His own fire rose to join it, until he couldn't tell where his fire ended and Ace's began.

It was almost gone too quick-shorter than Ace's scream. Leaving an alleyway full of ash and burnt all the way to the roofs, garbage piles incinerated, Marines incapacitated, unconscious, or rolling on the ground in flames.

The energy, the sheer power Sunny was feeling was unparalleled. Fire resurged from his back like a furnace, extending out around him twice as large and much hotter, it sparked from his mouth with every breath. His eyes burned yellow. The world was sharper. His body felt warm, uncomfortably fevered. He met eyes with Luffy, looking with shock at his brother, and Ace, panic loosening into incomprehension at Sunny. Were these Ace's flames? He harnessed fire too, not just fire, but the most incredible fire Sunny had ever experienced. It was sentient, pulling to be used, urging to rejoin Ace. He chuffed, staring down the other fire-user. Then his eyes flickered to the marine captain fast approaching, hand extended toward Luffy. Spirals of fire raced Sunny as he charged past the brothers, slamming into Smoker. The Marine captain dissipated into smoke and reformed with a stagger a few feet away. Sunny skid to a stop, flames licking his path.

"What _is-"_ He turned to Tashigi to ask but was cut off as a massive blast of flames caused him to roll out of the way. Then another, and a third in quick succession from the rat, burning the side of his captain's jacket and leaving a trail of ash on stone. "Tch."

The burning rodent was on him with the largest blast yet, a cone of flame too wide to dodge, too strong to block, and impossible for his logia devil fruit to contest. He landed further back, sweating, and cast his smoldering cloak aside, drawing his jitte. The cigars in his mouth had been reduced to nubs. Despite that, his mouth formed into a slow grin.

Tashigi was on her transponder snail, shouting for backup.

Giddy with energy, Sunny took a deep breath to unleash another massive ember, only to realize he'd used all Ace's fire and expended his own. A wave of dizziness overcame him, his heart hammering in his ears. His sinuses felt strangely clogged.

"'CHOO!" Sunny sneezed a spout of fire and soot so forcefully he landed on his butt.

A quiet chuckle came from his side a moment later, Ace picking him and Luffy up. "It's getting a little too hot here, even for me. Let's find a new spot." Then his legs turned to fire and he shot up into the air with the two Strawhats in tow.

"WHOAAAAA! COOL!" Luffy cheered. "Ace and my Lieutenant are so awesome!"

"Quiet, idiot! We're making an escape!" Ace yelled back, equally loudly. In moments, they were soaring above the town, passing rooftops higher and higher in the air, heading to the sparkling blue water. Ace squinted into the distance, looking at each Strawhat tucked into his arms.

"Which way's your ship? We won't be able to fit on my ride."

He looked down at Sunny to see the blue and yellow pokemon was digging his paws into Ace's bicep with bruising force and the tiny creature's eyes were wide open, blank, and watery. His face had taken on a darker blue hue that screamed either airsick or afraid of heights. Ace's suspicion was confirmed a second later when Sunny's head tipped back foaming from the mouth.

"Ah! There's my ship! Her name is Going Merry! Bring us down!" Luffy pointed excitedly. Ace descended as Luffy yelled out to his crew and Vivi gathered on the deck, jumping in surprise to see him approaching from the sky carried by a burning man.

"Yo," Ace cheerfully greeted, dropping Luffy onto the deck as they landed and tipped his hat. The crew couldn't help but notice the hat wobbled slightly after the man removed his hand. "I'm returning your captain and weak-stomached lieutenant."

"Lieutenant?" Sanji muttered, though technically, he supposed, the pipsqueak had been promoted by Luffy from Junior Lieutenant of Fire after Drum Island. The idea that he was the lieutenant of the crew, and had authority...He sweat slightly imagining Sunny ordering the crew around, before soothing himself with a puff of his cigarette. "Sorry-who are you?" He asked before Zoro inevitably demanded it.

Luffy jumped back onto his feet with a massive grin. "Good, everyone's in one place!"

"You're the one who wandered off," Usopp pointed out. "We were supposed to be gone an hour to get critical supplies. We've been waiting for you guys on the ship for an hour."

"Shishishi, you're funny, Usopp."

Sunny wiggled, prompting Ace to set him down. He stumbled about dizzily for a second before giving up and planting his butt on the deck, deciding that he would not travel by air for a good _long_ time.

Nami glanced between the three of them. "Captain, you want to tell us who he is, and why you guys were flying around?"

Luffy dusted his hat off and replaced it on his head. "Smoker-guy and his lackeys from Loguetown found us and Ace had to fly us out of there cause Sunny attracted too much attention with his attack. Oh, and he's a pirate, too. Ace, want to join my crew?"

"Quit asking random people to join the crew!" Usopp yelled, slamming the edge of his hand into Luffy's skull.

Sunny turned his gaze to Ace. _"You're really Luffy's brother?"_

Chopper was the only one to react. Choking on air before his eyes bugged out and he screamed, "Eh? Luffy's your brother?!" Pointing an accusing hoof at Ace.

The rest of the crew balked at that. Ace's hat quivered in laughter again.

"Shishishi Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Vivi, this is my big brother, Ace. Ace, this is my crew!"

"YOU HAVE A BROTHER?" The crew chorused in shock.

After some shock, confusion, and some name-calling, the crew gathered in the galley, where Sunny helped Sanji heat up their biggest pot of tea. Ace and Luffy were chatting excitedly, like days had gone by since last seeing each other, and not three years. When Sanji poured him a cup of tea, Sunny grabbed another cup, holding it in his mouth by the handle and hopping onto the table to set a second one down in front of Ace. Sunny stared blankly at the confused Sanji as the cup rattled as spun to a stop, recovering from being set down slightly off-kilter.

"Two cups?" Sanji ventured, hesitantly pouring the second cup of black tea.

"Thanks, little fella," Ace said, giving Sunny a scratch on the head as he set his hat upside down on the table. Gelly blinked slowly, antennae pulling up from where they were drooping across her face.

"Goom!" She grinned brightly in thanks to Sunny and reached her antennae out for the cup.

Usopp, Nami, and Vivi recoiled, Sanji jerking the teapot back and throwing his hand out to catch the stray splash of hot tea from the spout in his palm. He set the tea pot down and went to dry his hand with a curse. "What the hell?" The cook finally grumbled intelligibly.

Sunny grinned at his sleuth, overtly gesturing between them, careful to enunciate. " _She and I are the same. We are pokemon."_ He didn't know a lot about goomy, but looking at her and how she acted, he knew she was a dragon-type. The first dragon type he'd ever seen, but he knew instinctually, same as she knew he was a cyndaquil. _"Gelly's Ace's partner like I'm..."_ Sunny trailed off, looking thoughtfully at the tea breathing hot steam on his snout. When he was in the forest he never had ascribed to the human-pokemon partnership. Now it almost felt strange to think about having a team without one. Was it Usopp, who he protected when the boy was scared? Was it Nami, who had taken him to her island, who he'd snuck into the Arlong Pirate's base to find? Was it Sanji who kept him fed? Or even Chopper whom he owed his life to? Zoro, who kept him from going too far on the mountain? Or Luffy, who cheerfully led the crew, gave him a spot on the ship? Luffy didn't seem someone who would consider having a partner, to him, nakama was nakama, right?

 _"...Like I'm a Strawhat."_ Sunny concluded, feeling both confident and confused. Crew, sleuth, nakama, party, no word seemed to sum them up. He wasn't a captured pokemon, he was one living freely, working independently yet on a team.

He looked around at the others. Usopp had run to get his chart to jot down more notes. Sunny didn't even both to look what he was doing. Half of it was at least partially inaccurate, and that half was everything Sunny hadn't drawn for them. But the crew understood the gist-they'd come across another 'elemental.' They devolved into chatter.

He looked over at Gelly for approval. To his delight, her wobbly grin was still in place as her body wiggled akin to a nod. _"You're stronger than I thought, by the way-you really showed Ace up back there!"_

 _"I was surprised-I didn't think a human could do that. It was a dumb mistake-stepping into an attack like that-I was lucky he didn't have water powers."_

Gelly puffed up like she was going to protest his self-admonishment so he quickly continued in a different direction. Speaking through a stream of consciousness wasn't going to work here-he had to remember she could understand his every word. It wasn't as comforting a thought as it had been an hour ago. _"But some fire is compatible for me, so I kind of just knew I needed to use it?"_ He tried.

Gelly's easy, wobbly smile returned to her face. _"Really? Fire really is awesome, I've always wondered what it's like to be so attuned to an element. Well,"_ she stopped to snigger slightly. " _Sometimes when I think his head's getting a little too big for his hat, I sprinkle a little rain down on him. It kind of...steams off him in little fires and really messes up his hair. He may not look it, but he actually gets upset if his hair gets frizzy. Hehe-ho-ha!"_ Her body partially collapsed as she fell into a fit of guffaws. _"He can be totally vain! He took forever to figure out it was me! He thought he'd 'pissed off the sky!'"_ Gelly's body lost whatever remained of its solidity. Panicking, Sunny upended his steaming tea into his mouth and held the cup to the side of the table to catch part of her body that had begun to ooze off the table. Once he saw it was gathering in the cup, he let out a weak sigh of relief.

The laughter tapered to a stop and one blinking eye appeared in the cup which he held up. The slime pulled itself out of the cup, and the rest of her facial features rejoined her round, green cheeks and and wilted antennae. " _Don't worry about me, I'm not gonna fall apart,"_ she said with mirth, her eye quirking similar to a human raising an eyebrow. Sunny was suddenly hit with the uncontrollable urge to hide his face as he felt the cream fur on his cheeks redden. _That must have looked so stupid to her,_ he despaired inwardly. _It's not like she was melting!_

A moment later, he felt a cool, squishy, but solid limb wrap around one of his paws and gently pull it away from his face. Gelly's curious face was up next to him. _"Don't worry, you didn't offend me or anything! Everybody I'm around is used to me going slime so I didn't consider what it looked like to someone new! It's hard to remember my form when I laugh!"_

When Sunny didn't immediately offer up something to say, she dove back in, looking across the table to all the pirates in the room. _"Your crew is so cute! Is this everyone?"_

 _"Huh?"_ Sunny had rather thought the crew was getting very big, especially with Vivi along with them. _"Is yours bigger?"_

 _"The old man has a whole fleet of ships!"_ Gelly tittered. _"We're all his sons and daughters, even me. He's the biggest human I've ever seen-bigger than an ursaring!"_ Then she thought for a moment, before continuing uneasily. _"Well, there was one person who was that size too, but we don't...Ace doesn't like to talk about him."_

That piqued Sunny's interest, he almost looked around to gauge the rest of the crew's interest in the statement when he remembered that they were having their own conversation and they couldn't understand her anyway. He leaned forward toward the jelly dragon and started to ask when Ace straightened up and crossed his arms in finality.

"Sorry we can't stay for long. We're after a major criminal...goes by Blackbeard. He used to be a member of the Whitebeards and my subordinate. Before we committed the worst possible crime on a ship...killing a crewmate." Ace said, though his words were grave, his face was deceitfully casual.

The Strawhats balked, except for Luffy and Zoro, who looked somber.

Gelly sweat dropped. _"That's what Ace doesn't talk about. He really seems to open up to his brother, though."_

"As the commander, it's my duty to find him. We were asking around after him in Alubarna before Luffy distracted me." Ace stood up before bowing to the crew. "I forgot to introduce myself. Name's Portgas D. Ace. My little brother's a major pain, so I'm so grateful to all of you for watching his back." As he spoke Gelly smiled up Ace's arm and gave Sunny a wave.

Once they were back outside, Ace planted his hat back on his head, covering Gelly and handed Luffy a piece of paper. "Here, Luffy. This paper will let us meet again on the Grand Line." He grinned, winking at the rest of the crew and he crouched on the ship's rail. "Having a dumb little brother makes a big brother worry. I'm sure he'll cause you all trouble. Take care of him for me, eh, little man?" The last statement was directed to Sunny, who had followed closely behind, as the Whitebeard pirate ruffled the short fur on Sunny's head. With that, Ace jumped off the ship and back onto the small boat he'd tethered there. "Take care, little brother."

Ace sped off, leaving the Strawhat Pirate crew touched in his wake.

"I wish I had a brother!" Chopper wailed to the sky.

"Who could have imagined our captain would have such a grounded sibling?" Nami wiped a tear from her eye.

The ship began its journey from the port city of Nanohana up the Sandora river to head toward the Yuba Oasis, where the rebels were. Just trying to keep up with the conversation had Sunny's head spinning. So he was busy playing with a moth fluttering around a sack of potatoes when Vivi sprung out of her seat, sending her chair backward to punctuate a debate he'd missed. "We can stop the rebels! Even if there's 700,000 of them! We can stop this senseless violence! I won't let Baroque Works do what they want to my country!"

Sunny stopped in his tracks at the loud declaration, accidentally smushing the moth on the galley floor. Oh no, they had just cleaned the galley this morning. He was in trouble now. The real question was if Nami or Sanji would catch him first.

"Vivi..." Nami said, a small smile formed on her lips.

"I'll make a desert-crossing lunch for us then," Sanji cheered.

It was a really moving moment. Yep, Sunny loved this crew. He watched the princess as he very slowly rubbed the moth remains into a crack in the wood. Maybe he got away with it? Well, in any case, it seemed like his digression was a lot less important than this emotional moment. He'd definitely chosen to zone out of the wrong conversation. He padded over to Vivi's side, and reached up to pat her on the thigh in solidarity.

Vivi looked back down at Sunny and graced him with a gentle smile. "Thank y-ARGHHHHH!" She yelled as she noticed the red goo dripping off Sunny's paw, kicking him across the room with a scream of digust and shock.

Karma found a way.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading! I felt like I finally, really got to dive into Sunny's character here. Please let me know what you think!**


	29. Desert Crossing

**Thank you all so much for supporting this story-and shout out to** Simitria **for reviewing every chapter :) . With this chapter, we have hit 100,000 words, which a first for any of my stories. I was going to make a TV Tropes page for this story to celebrate...but I really couldn't figure it out. Maybe I'll figure it out by the next milestone?**

* * *

The Merry once again docked once they had gone upstream the Sandora river. The crew disembarked and peered around in the heavy mid-day sun.

"So, what are those?" Zoro asked conversationally, as he watched the strange turtle-manatee-like creatures fight and completely beat down Usopp, who had pridefully accepted their challenge in the first place. Chopper was fluttering around holding his first aid kit, waiting for a moment he could dive in to save his patient, who was emitting girlish screams as the strange marine animals knocked him around.

 _"_ _I think they're...definitely squirtle,"_ Sunny hazarded from Sanji's shoulder.

"These are kung-fu dugongs. They like to challenge passersby's to battles to expand their abilities."

 _"_ _Squirtle aren't fighting types though,"_ Sunny protested.

"Dugong, huh? I've never seen any before," Sanji replied.

 _"_ _And you still haven't. That's not a dewgong either!"_ Sunny smacked the back of Sanji's head irately.

"Hey, quit it, tiny!" Sanji growled, covering the back of his head with a hand. "What have we talked about with you being upset about things we can't understand?"

Sunny pouted. _"Not to."_

"Not to," Sanji confirmed. "Are they your kind?"

Sunny huffed a sigh, squinting at them again. Finally, he shook head. " _No, they're not like me_."

Sanji deflated at that. "Well, I guess that might be a good thing for how many of them there are, still we better-" He looked over at the kung-fu dugongs and his eyes went wide in shock. Luffy had taken over Usopp's fight and beaten them all up and the strange creatures were now lying bruised on the ground. Moments later, Chopper was translating their declarations of fealty to the Strawhat Pirates.

* * *

Once Usopp was patched up and their food and water supply were equally distributed to be carried by Luffy, Sanji and Zoro, they began their trek into the desert to the rebel town dozens of miles inland. Though Nami and Vivi had asserted traveling at dawn and dusk were much safer, they had used too much time up already and consigned the crew to take the risk of day.

Before the Merry was out of the view, the sun was beating down on the crew in waves of heat in what was, for the others, unbearable heat. Sunny trotted at the front of the pack with Luffy and Zoro. Even the sand being kicked up by their sandals couldn't bother him, cyndaquil had evolved (in the slow, eventual sense, of course) to weather the occasional sandstorm. True, it _was_ a little hotter and didn't have any shade, but all around, it wasn't much worse than Pecha Cove in late summer. The bright sun nearly made him giddy with excitement.

The same couldn't be said for Chopper, who was already staggering in walk-point. Thirty minutes into the journey, Sunny had already lapped back a few times to make sure he kept moving. Huh, he hadn't known reindeer could sweat...so much.

"Luffy, can you stop panting? Just hearing you is making me exhausted," Nami complained from the middle of the group.

Luffy was indeed panting like a poochyena chasing a rapidash. "I feel like I'm roasting...I can't even sweat even more. Sunny come here." Luffy picked the unsuspecting fire-type, who had trotted over at his call, and placed him on top of his hat. "Be my second hat."

Sunny grinned, pleased as he curled up on Luffy's head in the hopes he could catch a short nap in the sun. " _Aye-aye, captain! If you insist!_ "

If the rest of the crew thought it was a strange look, they certainly didn't comment as Sunny had slept on or over most of the crew in similarly strange positions, so none of them could talk.

And Sanji and Zoro were still fighting, but their blows were sloppier and their faces much redder.

"The women of summer islands are known to be the most beautiful! The sun blesses their skin to be beautifully tan and the sand makes their skin so incredibly soft. They truly are the-"

"I said it five minutes ago, I'll say it again, I'll throw _you_ into the sun!" Zoro growled back.

"Please, you would need someone to point the sun out to you or you would just get lost, Marimo-for-brains!"

"At least I have brains, unlike you who always thinks with your-"

 _CLUNK-CLUNK!_ Nami left them on the ground each with a mouthful of sand and a welt on their head.

 _The heat sure makes human krabby,_ Sunny ruminated as the two boys pulled themselves off the ground, spluttering. He didn't mind the hijinks at all, naturally, as long as he wasn't the one being clobbered. But as long as he acted sympathetic to the human's plight, he could avoid the girls' ire entirely. Sunny was feeling confident he was well-versed in avoiding trouble with them now; he definitely wasn't going to kill any more bugs around either of them.

Luckily, the incident had been forgotten entirely as Sunny dogged Vivi's feet while the princess finally told them about the dance powder. Luffy had just admitted to Sunny and his misadventure with the green powder. Vivi's face had grown sad and distant, and she had begun to explain, starting with an incident in Nanohana years ago that had revealed huge amounts of dance powder being imported into the country. The "accident" (as Vivi suspected it wasn't) lead to unrest within Alabasta's people as they believed that King Cobra had been illegally importing it to bring rain to the crown city, even at the cost of parching other areas of the desert country.

"Dissent gave way into rebellion! My father was innocent, set up by Crocodile!" Vivi abruptly stopped walking forward, and Sunny who had been pressing his side to her leg, dug his paws in the sand to stop at her side. It was a difficult angle to look up at his friend by, straight up. He wished, not for the first or last time, that he could be as tall as the humans, give them the support he wanted to. Look them in the eyes. But even from knee-height, he could see the rage in her eyes. Her knuckles were white as she looked at the horizon. "Because of Crocodile..!" She choked. "WHAT GIVES HIM THE RIGHT TO DO SUCH A THING? I WILL...NEVER FORGIVE THAT MAN!"

 _KA-KRACK!_

Sunny whipped his head around to see Sanji, Luffy, and Usopp walking back from a half-buried and rubble buildings, now falling apart in chunks. All three of their faces were stern and angry.

Nami sagged a little. "Those children."

Luffy stared ahead, eyes determined. "Let's hurry and get a move on. My fists are getting impatient."

* * *

A few hours later, the group stopped to rest in the shade of a large rock, panting in exhaustion and thirst. Zoro had long since tucked Chopper under his arm, and now set the poor doctor in the shade. He splashed a couple of drops of water on his face to rouse him. Sunny came to sit by his side, giving a conciliatory pant to pretend to be winded from the desert trek. He had a feeling if he didn't, Nami was irate enough to "accidentally" step on him. And Vivi hadn't spoken to him since she'd punted him into the wall following the moth incident.

Looking at his doctor friend, he did feel a measure of regret that Chopper had done so much for him on the winter island and now that they were in his favored terrain, there was nothing he could do to reciprocate. He wasn't crazy enough to wish he were an ice-type, but he desperately wanted to help his newest friend.

As Zoro set down his pack of supplies after leaning Chopper against the large rock and turned around to shout at the others, who had lagged behind to hurry over. Sunny sniffed the little deer's cheek. He barely roused. Sunny hefted the water jug Zoro had been carrying from the bag. Immediately straining to realize it was heavy, and toddling back to the doctor on his back paws. How humans did it so easily would always be a wonder to him; he had to lean far back to bring his center of gravity to his middle, meaning he only noticed he walked too far when the jug made a _tap_ against the rock. Sunny had to scramble and with Herculean effort, manage to catch the splash of water before it fell.

He held the jug up to Chopper's mouth and trickled water into the doctor's mouth. Thankfully, he was coherent enough to swallow it.

Sunny sensed the green-haired swordsman stooping down as the others approached. He reached out and pulled the jug up gently but firmly after several long moments. "We have to save it for later. We'll all be thirsty later too."

Sunny looked uneasily at Chopper but Zoro angled the spout toward Sunny. "You drink some too."

Sunny considered it for a moment before taking a sip and nodding to Zoro with thanks.

The three-swordsman quirked an eyebrow skeptically, weighting the jar in his hand. "That's enough?"

The fire mouse nodded again, it wasn't like cyndaquil needed water every day. It was more of a luxury. And what's more, the desert sun didn't dehydrate him like it did the others.

"Sanji! I want the desert-crossing desserts!" Luffy cheered after the water had been passed around and re-stowed.

The cook, who was looking rather hassled in the heat, hadn't even lit a cigarette. "You idiot, you ate that an hour ago when you last asked for snacks and raided all our supplies. We're out!"

"Eh?" Luffy tilted his head quizzically. "Then what do we eat now?"

After the water, and after Sanji had rather spectacularly laid into Luffy, Sunny was more than happy to return to playing in the sand. He knew the crew's eyes were on him as he zoomed back and forth in the sunlight a few times, enjoying the arid heat. He rolled and kicked up hot sand and without even deciding to do it, he plunged his paws deep into the sand. It only made one quick cloud of sand-a dozen rapidash-fast paw strokes in a moment-to bury himself. From there, it was only natural to continue. The grainy earth flowed around his whim as his paws swiped the sand away and his nose carved a path. He raced one way, skimming just below the surface, then the redoubled the other way just for fun.

The cognizant crew members couldn't help but sweat-drop at the display their youngest was putting on. He was unbelievably agile burrowed underground, and as he nearly skimmed the surface, they could only watch the displaced sand mound zig-zag back and forth as he played.

"Er, is he doing the backstroke?" Vivi asked.

"I...believe he is, Vivi," Nami said, watching Sunny flip onto his back and kick through the sand without losing too much speed.

The princess watched the shrew for a couple more seconds before she cracked a smile and chuckled. "He really is something."

"A show-off, you mean." Nami looked over to Vivi to see her smile turn sad as she wrapped her arms around her legs.

"Sunny really seems in his element here. Happy, you know?" Vivi ventured. "I wonder-"

Nami raised a hand to stop Vivi, who broke off in surprise. "No." She offered Vivi a smile despite her firm tone. "Don't think like that. Sunny may be an animal but he has to learn and make his own choices. I made the same mistake with him once, thinking I knew what was best for him. Sunny's a pirate, and if you offer him a place on the island, you're only questioning his pride as a Straw Hat."

Vivi balked, pulling away. "No, I..."

"It's okay. But we live by a code, and we have to take it seriously. We're going to be the Pirate King's crew someday, after all." Nami's smile didn't fade.

Vivi bit her lip as she contemplated her words before giving Nami a nod. "I get it. I understand upholding a code. I'm sorry if I seemed like I was doubting the crew."

Nami raised a hand placatingly. "It's-"

"QQQQUIILLLLL!" Came a shrill, terrified cry.

"Did you hear something just now?" Nami asked.

"CYNNNNNNNNNNDAQUIIILL!" The cry got slightly louder.

"Do you hear a very quiet squeal?" Vivi agreed.

"I do...it's weird, the only one that quiet is..."

"SUNNY!" Usopp yelled, hand shaking in fright as he pointed to the distance. Sunny had strayed too far in his play and evidently, it had attracted the attention of a gigantic purple lizard. It was charging after the cyndaquil, jaws slavering. Half a dozen feet ahead of it, Sunny's eyes were wide open and teary as he pelted back toward the crew. He was still up to his waist in sand, kicking up a wave of sand into the Shandoran dragon's mouth, his front legs were above his head as his quiet scream of terror continued.

Zoro shaded his face to watch the spectacle, reaching his other hand for a katana. "Looks like Sunny found us lunch."

Sanji stood up and tapped the front of his shoe against the sand a couple of times. "If it's like crocodile, it should taste similar to chicken, we'll just need to tenderize it."

"SAVE HIM!" Vivi yelled.

"SAVE US!" Nami added as the pair got within fifty feet of them. Usopp was screaming and clinging to the unconscious Chopper in fear.

Sunny let out one more miserable 'Quuuiii' as he poured on all the speed he could muster and passed the cook, the swordsman, and their captain. An inch behind Sunny, a sword swept upwards and across the lizard, while a powerful kick and punch met its teeth and elongated skull.

After Sunny had come to terms with life being intact, he torched the lizard on the hot rocks under Sanji's instruction and before long they were eating and Nami somehow acquired a camel she quickly named Eyelashes while the rest of the crew had been busy eating..

" _Nami_ ," Sunny started carefully.

"Yes, Sunny?" Nami asked pleasantly, patting Eyelashes' neck from where she was sitting on his back.

" _I'm really glad you weren't allowed to name me,_ " Sunny stated, sweat-dropping.

Nami scowled as she held out a hand to Vivi as she climbed up onto Eyelashes as well. "Whatever you say, Sunny. I _was_ going to lie to Eyelashes and tell him you were a girl-"

Eyelashes brayed in protest at that.

"But now I'm not gonna! Have fun walking with the boys!" Nami sing-songed, a tap to the side was all Eyelashes needed for him to race away, leaving Sunny, Usopp, Sanji, Zoro, and Chopper in the dust.

That in itself would have been alright had Luffy not eaten a hallucinogenic cactus.

"Luffy! Quit. It! Put Sunny down!" Sanji yelled from a cartoon fight dust cloud.

"Quil!"

"That's my leg!"

"YURRK!"

"Get your teeth off of Chopper!"

"Now you're stepping on-"

"Cyndaaa.." Sunny couldn't hold back his frustration as he removed himself from Luffy's sandal in the chaos as limbs wove and impacted all around him from the brawling boys. Goaded by the bright sun and the stagnant air reaching over 120 degrees, a plume of fire burst from him in every direction leaving several of his crew mates scorched and twitching on the ground and his assailant, Luffy, insensate.

Sunny huffed a smokey breath of relief and shook himself off as Sanji, Usopp, and Zoro pulled themselves up, giving Sunny dirty looks.

"You're pulling Luffy." Zoro said, cracking his neck as he continued in the direction he thought Nami and Vivi had gone.

"Wrong way, moss head!"

Chopper staggered along in brain point until Zoro hefted him over his shoulder and Sunny panicked waving his arms when he realized Luffy and the sled they had previously been pulling Chopper on were left for him. Pulling on the sled just had him digging himself into the sand.

 _"_ _Come back you guys, this is a bad joke!"_ Sunny yelled.

The next leg of the trip involved musical chairs with carrying Luffy, then once Luffy had regained consciousness just as Chopper and Usopp had to be carried. As the sun was beginning to set, even Sunny was beginning to realize how exhausted he was. His feet were dragging along the sand, making his paw steps look like a slug trail rather than paw prints. Sunny had trained his eyes onto Sanji's heels a few feet in front of him, focusing on nothing more than walking forward. Of course, a step for Sanji was three strides for Sunny. Still, there was nothing to do but keep moving forward as a group.

By the time they were nearing Yuba, the sun had fully set and the temperature dropping down significantly.

When prompted, Vivi casually explained that the desert could reach sub-zero temperatures at night.

"W-WHAT?" Luffy, Usopp, and Nami spluttered in disbelief.

Sunny was at Vivi's feet, shaking her pant leg back in forth in lieu of shaking her shoulders. Tears were streaming from his squinted eyes. " _You didn't think you should tell us about that!?_ "

"Ahaha..ha... It must have slipped my mind. If you get cold tonight, you can sleep with me in my sleeping bag."

"You packed a sleeping bag?!" Nami blustered, the heat only accounted for part of the redness in her face. "Are the rest of us supposed to freeze?"

Sanji simultaneously got a nosebleed from both nostrils.

"Sanji! Did you over-exert yourself? Sit down!" Chopper was immediately at the chef's side, pulling at his cloak in a similar manner as Sunny had done to Vivi. It was hard being so small.

Usopp shook sagely his head at the panicked reindeer. "I'd bet my swords he's having a breakdown deciding if he wants to offer to sleep in Vivi's sleeping bag with her or offer to keep Nami warm."

"-But the important thing is that Yuba is just over this dune!" Vivi said, redirecting the Strawhat's attention and most importantly, Nami's cranky, heat-exhaustion-based tirade.

Suddenly it was like there was wind in everyone's sails again. The crew and the princess hurried up the slope of the dune, looking over at Yuba in amazement. From what Vivi had described it was a beautiful town, more quaint than many of the other cities in the country but beautiful and enduring.

What Sunny saw over the mountain was a graveyard of a town. Buildings were bleached white in the sun, adobe houses cracked, any sign of foliage was dried and stripped wood. Above all, everything was covered in sand, whether it was some clinging in cracks in the stone, the inches piled on roofs or the mounds in front of doors to the houses. Through the middle of the town was something Sunny guessed must have been some kind of river or pond. The Oasis? Thinking about it now, the idea of clear water in the middle of the desert seemed implausible. In his forest, their lake would dry up almost completely in summer and water had to be dug up. The idea of it staying in this town was a dream, but it was one Sunny was sad to see go away.

Anything Vivi might have said here dried up in her throat and came out more a growl Sunny would have made.

Nami was instantly at her side, securing her arm and helping her down the slope. As the crew made their way into the town. In the fading light, they made out one figure in the open raised a hand in greeting to them.

"Travelers aren't something we often see these days," the old man greeted as the crew approached. He leaned casually on a shovel in front of a hole a couple of feet deep but very wide. "We've got accommodations here, if you need the night to rest."

Glancing around, even though the man was saying 'we' as if the town were offering, Sunny couldn't help but notice it was only late evening and there were no other people around. The sand was clear of fresh footprints, and the only scent-of hot cotton and sweat-was coming from the old man. Could a town this quiet really have an army of rebels? _It's not possible,_ Sunny realized, his heart sinking for Vivi.

When Vivi asked, the man, Toto, told them not only that the rebels had already left, but that the town had dried up due to three years of drought. Vivi looked destroyed for a moment, staring down the old man, one of her citizens, in a dried up old town. Suddenly, the wide hole the man had dug seemed to span between them like a canyon. Vivi hadn't known, she'd spent the last two years working her way up Baroque Works, taking the problem into her own hands. Rain was not something she could bring to Alabasta. And peace alone would not bring water to an oasis. Still, Sunny saw nothing but guilt and shame in the princess's eyes in that moment.

* * *

 **This chapter was mostly set up for the rest of the arc that had to be done. I'm excited for what's to come in, maybe the 4-5 chapters it'll take to finish up the arc? I'm treating it like its own discrete novella and want to have as much mapped out as possible before I update so I apologize for the slow updates on this arc.**

 **Thanks for reading and hope to hear from you guys!**


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